MOTORISTS drove a path through the wreckage of a crashed lorry as a young driver lay dying in the road, an inquest heard.

Belgian driver Davy Dierckx, 20, died from head injuries suffered when his lorry struck a Dulux lorry loaded with paint on November 29 last year.

The paint lorry had pulled over to the hard shoulder of the westbound carriageway of the M4 in the early hours with a flat tyre.

Although many motorists left their vehicles to assist, assistant Wiltshire and Swindon coroner William Bache criticised the behaviour of the drivers in three vehicles who witnesses saw drive through the wreckage and spilt paint before emergency services arrived on the scene.

He said: "I have heard in disbelief about the conduct of three vehicles, including a Unigate lorry, which drove past the accident which had obviously happened recently.''

He said their conduct created a risk of further injury to victims, endangered the lives of members of the public who were helping at the scene and destroyed potential evidence at the scene.

"I hope that where it is possible to influence the users of our roads we should reinforce that message."

The inquest heard from numerous witnesses, who submitted written statements about how the force of the collision thrust Mr Dierckx's lorry onto the eastbound carriageway where it was struck by a Vauxhall Vectra.

Mr Dierckx was thrown from the cab and white paint from the stationary Dulux lorry spilled across the road.

The driver of the Dulux lorry, Steven Knight, attended the inquest. He summoned help from the emergency services, despite being in shock and his actions were praised by the coroner.

Doctors from Princess Margaret Hospital battled for six hours to save the life of the Belgian driver but he never regained consciousness.

Summing up, Mr Bache said he was satisfied as to the identity of the deceased and that he had died of head injuries. Evidence from the lorry's tachograph showed that Mr Dierckx had just been driving for five minutes after taking an hour's break.

Coroner William Bache suggested it would be impossible to know why Mr Dierckx crashed into the parked lorry which had its emergency lights on and was well over on the hard shoulder.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.