TWO young people died instantly when the car in which they were driving went out of control and smashed into an oncoming lorry.

Stewart Cowan and Karen McEwen, both aged 24, were driving along the A442 at Round Hill, Kidderminster, when the collision occurred, an inquest at County Hall heard yesterday.

Witnesses described how the Ford Mondeo skidded across the road as Mr Cowan tried to negotiate a right hand, downhill bend on the afternoon of Friday, December 21 last year.

They said the car went horizontally across two lanes and into the path of the Scania lorry.

Cathryn Bennett, who was driving behind the lorry, told the inquest she was trying to overtake when she saw the car moving horizontally across the road.

"I remember hearing this almighty bang," she said. "My car was showered with glass like a hailstorm."

The lorry driver, Anthony Hockey, said in a police statement he could see the car heading towards him as he drove up the hill, but could do nothing to avoid the collision.

He said he checked both of the casualties for pulses, but he could find nothing.

Mr Hockey said the road was wet and was starting to freeze as the temperature fell.

Pathologist Dr Paul Dunn said both Mr Cowan and Miss McEwen, both from Shrewsbury, died from multiple injuries.

Tim Sherwood, deputy coroner for Worcestershire, recorded a verdict of accidental death.