A GWENT printer high on Ecstasy and alcohol died accidentally after losing control of his car, an inquest heard.\

Cardiff coroner's court heard how Lee Pugh, aged 26, crashed his Renault Clio after overtaking a taxi at high speed on the A48 last June. A toxicology report found that Mr Pugh, of Granston Square, Cwmbran, was twice over the legal drink- drive limit and that he had taken Ecstasy shortly before his death.

Mr Pugh's friend Andrew Wilkinson, who was in the front passenger seat, is still in a wheelchair after being injured in the smash, the hearing was told.

The inquest heard that the pair left the Evolution nightclub in Cardiff at 4am, on June 1 last year.

They were heading towards St Mellons on the Eastern Avenue section of the A48 when the accident happened.

Mr Pugh, who had only recently passed his test, overtook a taxi before losing control of his high performance car which than hit a street sign and a lamppost before landing on its roof.

Mr Pugh's father comforted his wife as they heard how passengers of the taxi tried to help their fatally-injured son.

In a statement read to the court, Newport scaffolder Carl Littlejohns described how he ran to the overturned Clio to try to help.

He said: "When I got to the car the driver was upside down on his head. I tried to lift him to help him breathe, he breathed out and blood came from his nose."

Mr Pugh later died from his injuries. Dr Thomas Hockey, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Mr Pugh at the University of Wales Hospital Cardiff, said that he had died from chest injuries caused by a blunt impact. He added that Ecstasy combined with the alcohol in his system would have impaired Mr Pugh's ability to drive safely.

Accident investigator PC Matthew Curtis said that it appeared that a rear tyre on Mr Pugh's car had deflated on passing the taxi.

Pronouncing a verdict of accidental death, coroner Dr Lawrence Addicott said that he could not ignore the drugs and alcohol "could have reduced Lee's ability to react to the situation".