ACCIDENTAL death was the verdict on six day-trippers killed when a Springs coach from Evesham veered off the M25 and down an embankment last November.

An inquest in Aylesbury heard how driver Chris Sloane, who was killed in the crash with his wife Karen, was seen nodding off at the wheel.

Accident investigator PC Andrew Bryant said the 49-seater coach was travelling at 60mph when it left the M25, slid down the embankment and landed 13 metres from the motorway on its side.

The inquest heard evidence from numerous passengers on the coach who had noticed Chris Sloane's erratic driving and from two passengers who had seen his head jolting as if he was falling asleep.

Buckinghamshire coroner Richard Hulett said he presumed Graham Spring was asleep before the crash, otherwise he would have noticed his co-driver's erratic driving.

PC Bryant added that Chris Sloane had committed a criminal offence by breaching regulations on the number of hours he had been driving and by not entering the start of his journey on the tachograph until three hours after they left Worcestershire.

He said Chris Sloane, who had stepped in as co-driver for Graham Spring's son Michael only a week before, had also not had the eight hours of uninterrupted rest needed.

The coroner closed the inquest with strong advice about wearing seatbelts after it came to light that only two passengers were wearing belts at the time of the accident and they escaped with bruising.