A 20-year-old mechanical engineering student who drowned when his car crashed into the river at Runnymede, had his leg torn off by a wooden fence as his Volkswagon Golf crashed through it.

The grim facts behind Oliver Lewis-McCulloch's death were revealed at an inquest held at Woking Coroner's Court, seven months after the tragic accident which happened on the A308 Windsor Road between Old Windsor and Egham at about 1am on December 14.

Oliver lived with his mother Caroline Lewis in Salisbury but was visiting his father Peter McCulloch in Datchet at the time of the tragedy.

PC Geoff Burgess of Surrey Police's collision investigation unit said the car had spun into the wooden fence at the side of the road. One of the wooden poles had gone through the driver's door, ripping Oliver's leg off at the hip. The car had then rolled across the grass into the river. He said there was no evidence he had been speeding.

Oliver's father is calling for a strong crash barrier to be installed along the road to replace the wooden fence and Surrey County Council has agreed to consider it.