A young woman who was killed in a car crash near Malton would have survived if she had worn a seat belt, an inquest has heard.

Vicky Louise Mason, 21, was several times over the drink drive limit when she was thrown from the vehicle she was driving when it careered off the road at Crambeck Bridge on the A64.

Her passenger, Sarah Trafford, suffered minor cuts and bruises because she was properly strapped in.

The pair, who were flatmates in Leeds, had decided to drive to Scarborough on March 8 this year - despite having drunk half a bottle of vodka between them.

Wearing their night clothes and dressing gowns Miss Mason, a sales administrator, of Irwin Approach, Halton, Leeds, and her friend set off shortly after midnight, Scarborough Coroner's Court heard.

"I don't know why we decided to go to Scarborough," she said.

"Vicky decided we would go and stay over before driving back to Leeds for work the next day - we continued drinking during the journey and probably had two glasses of vodka and cola each."

Miss Trafford says though she remembers driving past York she has no memory of the accident.

"I remember waking up and the car seemed to be in a ditch but Vicky wasn't in the seat next to me," she added.

She explained that after regaining consciousness she climbed over the bonnet and out onto the road.

"A man was there phoning the police and I could see Vicky lying by the side of the road but he wouldn't let me near her," she said.

The inquest heard evidence from Christopher Draycott who was one of the first on the scene of the crash and who phoned the police.

Police accident investigator Michael Natt told the court he believed the deceased would have survived the crash if she had worn a seatbelt.

"She was thrown from the vehicle at some point during the accident - she would be alive had she been properly strapped in," he said.

"The car seemed to have swerved off the road before flipping over several times and coming to a halt."

Coroner Michael Oakley said the deceased's alcohol intake and lack of a seat belt had been contributing factors in her death before recording a verdict of accidental death.

Updated: 08:41 Tuesday, May 22, 2001