A teenage driver, who died along with one of his three passengers in a crash near Winchester, was found to have a high level of ecstasy in his bloodstream, an inquest heard.

Callum Drummond (18) was not wearing a seatbelt when his Vauxhall Nova left the southbound carriageway of the A34, near Sutton Scotney Services, at 10.45am on Sunday, July 28th, last year after a glancing collsion with another car.

Mid-Hampshire deputy coroner, Simon Burge, recorded a verdict of accidental death on Mr Drummond, of Wood Lane, Bramdean, and Carl Smallman (17), of Shepherds Down, Alresford. They and their friends had been on their way home after spending the night at a "rave" in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Toxicologist, David Rowe, said he found levels of ectasy in their bloodstreams which had been known to be lethal and added that, in Mr Drummond's case, it would have impaired his driving.

Liam Sheppard (17), who was also a passenger in the car, sustaining internal injuries in the crash, told the Winchester inquest he had seen Mr Drummond take at least one ecstasy tablet the night before his death.

He said Mr Drummond had been anxious to get home to see his girlfriend because she had been going to Wales the next day.

"I think he was a pretty accomplished driver," he said.

"All I can remember was being suddenly jerked and being aware that the car was out of control and Callum was struggling with the wheel."

"I thought we were all wearing seatbelts, but apparently Callum wasn't - I think he got pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt one time before."

The coroner asked Mr Sheppard if he now understood the dangers of drugs - especially as he had also admitted taking ecstasy that night.

"Drugs are not worth taking if two of your friends have died and it's just stupid to do drugs for recreational purposes," he told him.

The third passenger, Rory Silburn (18), from Alresford, suffered minor injuries in the accident.

"I do not think any of us were under the influence of any alcohol or any drugs when we left the event, but we were all very tired," he told the inquest.

Mr Burge told the friends and family of the two dead youngsters: "You've lost two sons, brothers, friends, who were in the prime of their lives."

After the inquest, both sets of parents spoke about the deaths.

Ian and Mary Drummond said: "Callum's family were shocked to learn that he had taken drugs at the pop concert.

"It is regrettable that youngsters largely ignore the warnings, both by schools and the media, since the results are frequently tragic."

Chris and Kim Smallman added: "We still haven't come to terms with the tragic loss of our son and we are trying to rebuild our lives."