THE excessive speed of a car was the sole reason for the deaths of four county teenagers in a horrific crash, a coroner has ruled.

On the final day of a four-day hearing into the deaths of Martyn Pickering and his three passengers, Joanne Bibby, Stephanie Goodall and Kyle Gadsby, Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams said he was satisfied Mr Pickering's blue Rover 220 was travelling at "enormous speed" when it clipped the central reservation of the A449, between Ombersley and Worcester, and hit a tree.

"The sole cause of the crash was the excessive speed of the Rover in wet and windy conditions," he said. "If the car hadn't been travelling so fast there wouldn't have been a crash and those youngsters wouldn't have died."

Mr Williams considered a verdict of unlawful killing for the three passengers, but said he was unable to make this finding because it is unclear how fast Martyn Pickering was driving.

He recorded a verdict of accidental death for all four teenagers.

However, he dismissed the evidence of two key witnesses and questioned the honesty of another.

He accepted the account of a police officer who examined the crash scene and found markings where the Rover is believed to have clipped the kerb and travelled sideways into a tree.

However, he questioned the honesty of Oliver Madden, the driver of a red Vauxhall Cavalier which was overtaken by Mr Pickering's car moments before the crash.

Mr Madden's driving was initially alleged to have contributed to the crash.

He said the 22-year-old, of Stourport-on-Severn, had clearly been speeding on the night in question, but said there was no evidence to suggest he was involved.

However, Mr Madden's claims he was travelling at 75mph and the timings of his journey that night were "disingenuous and self-serving" and said his claims not to remember was "simply dishonest".

Mr Williams said the evidence of Mr Madden's passenger, Nicola Wade, was "utterly unreliable". Miss Wade, who was 19 at the time of the crash, alleged Mr Madden had been smoking cannabis all day prior to the accident. She said he was a "boy racer" who had been speeding, overtaking Mr Pickering's car and driving dangerously.

Mr Williams said Miss Wade admitted long-term cannabis use which had affected her memory and said she was confused in court. She also gave two different versions of events to the police.

Mr Williams did accept the evidence of four witnesses who were overtaken by a blue car prior to the crash, but dismissed that of Deborah Cahill, who also gave two versions of events and admitted lying to police because she was speeding at 90mph and feared being prosecuted.

Earlier in the inquest Mr Williams said he would be making a complaint about her perjury.

Joanne Bibby , 17, of Bearcroft Avenue, Warndon, Worcester; Stephanie Goodall, 16, of Burleigh Road, Dines Green, Worcester and Droitwich boys Kyle Gadsby, 18, of Valley Way and Martyn Pickering,18, of Little Hill, died when their car hit a tree at about 9pm on Sunday, December 10, 2006.

Kyle died of chest and abdominal injuries, while the other three died of multiple injuries.