A talented Bristol footballer who died after crashing his car into a tree was over the drink-drive limit at the time, an inquest heard.

Robert Cruse had just joined Almondsbury United and had attended one of the side's matches before going to a reunion at Oxford United before crashing a few miles from his Cheltenham home.

The 24-year-old right back, who had trained with Almondsbury United and was due to make his debut the following weekend, crashed at 2.45am on November 16 last year on the A40 near Charlton Kings, Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore heard yesterday that Mr Cruse, a fitness instructor, was one-and-a-half times over the alcohol limit and was driving on the wrong side of the road when he lost control of his car and crashed into a hedge.

He suffered a serious brain injury, which eventually caused his death from a heart attack 10 days later.

The inquest heard that although some symptoms of damage to Mr Cruse's brain stem were recorded before his death, no surgery could have been carried out to save him.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Crickmore said: "Important features are the time he was driving and the amount of alcohol in his blood.