NOBODY will ever know what prompted a 21-year-old football star from Redditch to drive from his family home on what would become a fatal journey in the early hours of Saturday, August 9 last year.

An inquest at Oxford County Hall heard Jimmy Davis died instantly from severe head injuries in a high-speed collision on a notoriously foggy stretch of the M40.

The inquest last Wednesday heard Mr Davis was about twice over the drink-drive limit when he ploughed into the back of a lorry in his BMW at about 5am.

The former Arrow Vale High School pupil, who was on loan to Watford from Manchester United, had spent the evening before the crash with his best friend, Timothy Wilkes, at Time nightclub in the town centre.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Wilkes said: "We went to Time until 2-2.30am. We both drank a couple of bottles of Stella and two to three bottles of VK Blue. We drank without eating first.

"We got a taxi home. Jimmy got the taxi to his mum's, where he was staying. He told me he would pick me up the next day to go back to Watford and I'd watch the match with him. I can't say why Jimmy decided to go back without me."

He suggested Mr Davis might have wanted to get back early because the roads were quiet and to see his physio.

After speaking to his girlfriend, Melissa Coupe, shortly after 3.30am and telling her he was tired and wanted to go to bed, Mr Davis decided - for reasons unknown - to get into his BMW and head towards Watford.

At the inquest, several witness statements were read out in court stating a black BMW had been seen driving at speeds of between 100-120mph on the M40 prior to the collision.

The Portuguese driver of the lorry Mr Davis collided with, Paulo Dos Santos, said he was driving on the M40 between junctions 10 and 11 when he heard a noise but did not see anything in his mirrors.

Mr Dos Santos said the impact made the lorry judder and he stopped, which was when he discovered what had happened.

He said: "I was shocked, the car was almost under the lorry. As I stood behind the car, it caught fire.

"I then ran to the front of the lorry and made signs to another lorry to stop and help."

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: "It will never be known why Jimmy decided to set out on his journey at about 4am that morning."

He added: "Obviously, he had had a substantial amount to drink and was well over the legal limit. He had stopped drinking previously but he was still well in excess.

"He was clearly travelling at a high speed down the M40.

"Mr Davis appears to have simply run into the back of the lorry, whether this was because he did not appreciate the rapidly closing distance or whether he had nodded off.

"He'd had a fairly busy day and had not slept. Whether drink had some part to play is probably likely."

Mr Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.