A heroin addict died after smashing into an oncoming car while driving on the wrong side of the road, an inquest was told.

Stuart Vooght, 27, of Cobden Road, Worthing, had taken a cocktail of drugs when he drove his Ford Fiesta along West Street, Sompting, near Worthing.

As he overtook a vehicle without his headlights on at about 8.30pm on August 14, the unemployed carpenter smashed into an oncoming car and was killed by the impact.

Coroner Roger Stone recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest at Worthing Hospital.

Detective Sergeant Sean McDonald was off duty when Mr Vooght sped past him.

He said: "He overtook me on the other side of the road. He overtook me on a roundabout by going the wrong way.

"At first I did not see where the vehicle had come from at all. I thought it was fleeing from a crime scene or being followed by a police car."

John Eddlestone was with his wife in a Vauxhall Omega when Mr Vooght crashed into him.

He said: "Suddenly, from nowhere, a Fiesta appeared and was overtaking at a speed.

"(Mr Vooght) was trying to swerve in front of the other car but was going much too fast and struck my driver's side.

"A police officer said it was lucky I was driving a 'substantial car'. I thought for a few seconds I had died."

Blood tests showed Mr Vooght had taken heroin, methadone and cocaine.

In a statement, Mr Vooght's mother, Coral, also of Cobden Road, said her son had used heroin for about three years and suffered from depression.

Despite a number of attempts to get professional help, she said Mr Vooght never received treatment he needed and that he should have been committed to a psychiatric hospital.