A Keighley businessman died when the trailer his Land Rover was pulling caused the vehicle to flip onto its roof, an inquest was told.

A witness told the hearing at Scarborough yesterday he saw the trailer “snaking” and the Land Rover “catapulted into the air and landed on its roof” on the A64 at Whitwell, North Yorkshire.

The driver, Thomas Geoffrey Cross, 39, of Grafton Road, Keighley, died in the accident, while his passenger Stephen Camm, of Pennine Marine, Skipton, was taken to hospital for treatment.

Another motorist, Darren Mark Towey, 35, a student of Hebden Walk, Leeds, died when he tried to take evasive action while travelling in the opposite direction and crashed into a tree.

Deputy North Yorkshire East Coroner, John Broadbridge, recorded verdicts of accidental death on the two men.

Police Constable David Foster told the hearing, the accident happened half a mile east of Barton crossroads on the A64 Leeds to Scarborough road.

As the trailer, which was carrying a boat Mr Cross and Mr Camm had collected from Whitby, was going down Whitwell Hill the trailer “snaked” when he used his brakes and he lost control of the vehicle and the trailer.

It overturned on the central reservation and he was killed.

PC Foster told the inquest an examination of the trailer showed it had no braking system and suffered from “a chronic lack of maintenance”.

PC Foster said he believed there was need for the central reservation barrier system to be examined and changed to improve safety on the hill, which Mr Broadbridge said he would pursue with the Highways Agency.

Other witnesses described how they had rushed to the scene of both accidents but their attempts to help the two drivers was in vain. In a statement Mr Camm said the Land Rover had jack-knifed and ended up on its roof. He tried to rescue Mr Cross, but he was wedged in the driving seat.

Recording his verdicts, Mr Broadbridge said one of the crucial factors in the accidents had been “the total lack of an adequate braking system on the trailer which he had borrowed.

“It was inevitable that Mr Cross was going to get into difficulties because of the brakes,” he said.