Aaron McConnell (19), who lived at Whissendine, was killed when the blue Renault Clio he was driving collided with a 7.5 tonne lorry on the A606 Melton road at about 11pm on December 4, 2006.

At an inquest held in Loughborough yesterday Aaron's girlfriend, Louise Bird, recalled the moments leading up to the collision. Aaron had picked her up from Tesco in Oakham, where she worked, earlier that day before they headed towards Melton.

Miss Bird, a passenger in the Clio, said: "There was a noise coming from the car. It was like a whistling coming from the dashboard. That's what distracted him. He was tapping the dashboard to see if it was the air vents but it wasn't."

The inquest heard that Aaron tried gently steering the wheel but the car went out of control and swerved over to the other side of the road and into the path of the lorry.

"He just grabbed the wheel to pull the car back but it still went towards the headlights. I shut my eyes," Miss Bird added.

Despite wearing a seatbelt Aaron was thrown from the car which was split in two.

A student at Vale of Catmose College in Oakham, Aaron was an aspiring mechanic and took a part-time course in the subject at Brooksby Melton College.

Coroner Carolyn Hull said the medical cause of Aaron's death was multiple severe injuries. A post mortem examination showed no evidence of alcohol or drugs.

In a statement given to police, the lorry driver, from Ipswich, said: "I was travelling along the A606, came over the brow of a hill and saw a car coming towards me. It appeared to be on my side. The driver seemed to panic and put his foot on the brake, causing him to swerve across the road and collide with my vehicle. I hit the brakes and just tried to stop as quickly as I could."

Richard Berrington, a former police constable with Leicestershire Police's accident investigation unit, said the stretch of road surface in question was in good repair and road markings were clear. He confirmed Aaron and Louise were wearing seatbelts and that he found no faults with the Clio or the lorry which would have caused or contributed to the accident. A tachograph reading confirmed the lorry was travelling within the 50mph limit.

In conclusion he said there were numerous reasons why the Clio could have gone out of control. He added: "I can't point to one factor as to what caused it. It's more likely to be a combination of factors."

Miss Hull recorded a verdict of accidental death and offered her condolences for Aaron's 'sad, untimely and tragic death'.