THE DEATH of a man hit by a car while walking home from a party along the A419 could have been avoided if the road was better lit.

This was the conclusion reached by a police traffic expert at an inquest into the death of Nationwide worker Andrew Cook, 24.

Coroner David Masters has repeated recommendations he made last year after 42-year-old Brian Gates was killed when he was walking home from an army reunion.

Then he called for better lighting, footpaths and the introduction of a barrier on the central reservation on the A419 between Swindon and Cricklade.

An inquest yesterday heard that Mr Cook was killed under similar circumstances.

He had been drinking all evening at pubs in Swindon and at a party in Liden on the night of Saturday, November 17.

Friends testified that he had drunk about 13 bottles of beer in town followed by six glasses of mixed beer, spirits and liqueurs during a drinking game at the party.

He was said to be very drunk when he left the party at 12.30pm.

After friends were unable to book a taxi for him, he decided to start walking back to his home at Amber Court, near the County Ground, in Swindon.

Mr Cook was later spotted by drivers walking dangerously into the path of traffic on roads in Dorcan and Covingham.

One testified that he appeared to be trying to stop a car to get a lift. At 2.50am Mr Cook approached a security guard at Tyco Electronics in Dorcan saying he was there to relieve him.

He was next spotted in the southbound carriageway of the A419 by Royal Mail lorry driver Brian Headley at around 3am.

Mr Headley slammed his breaks on and narrowly avoided hitting Mr Cook after he ran out of the way. Shortly afterwards, Mr Cook was struck by a Peugeot car driven by Martin Harris on the northbound section of the dual carriageway. Mr Harris said he just remembered seeing a black shadow come out of nowhere and collide with his car.

Mr Cook suffered serious injuries and died at the scene.

PC Alan Kyne, from Swindon Police, said he believed Mr Harris could have done nothing to avoid the collision. He did, however, say that some street lighting on this dark section of road could have perhaps avoided the tragedy.

He said: "The A419 between Swindon and Cricklade has been the scene of a number of serious injury accidents. They have a number of common factors: they occur during the hours of darkness, pedestrians involved have consumed alcohol, they occur in areas without footpaths or cycleways and drivers have insufficient time to react."

PC Kyne said that the introduction of footpaths, lighting and cycleways along the A419 between Swindon and Cricklade should be made a priority.

Coroner David Masters backed these recommendations.

He recorded a verdict of death my misadventure.