A DRIVER was killed when he skidded off an 'horrendously' icy road near York and crashed into a fence - just hours after council workers were said to have gritted the road.

An inquest heard that mechanic Paul Alan Chapman was test driving a car in Bradley Lane, Rufforth, when a fence post smashed through his windscreen and struck him, causing a fractured skull and brain injuries

His parents spoke of the devastation they had suffered after the crash - and paid tribute to a 'family man' and 'perfect partner' to his fiancee, who 'hadn't a bad bone in his body.'

The inquest was told that Mr Chapman, 28, had been test driving a VW Passat on the evening of January 5, 2021, after working on it at his father's garage in a lock-up on Rufforth Airfield.

A workmate, Gareth Metcalf, who went out to look for him after he failed to return to the garage and found him in the crashed car, said the road conditions were 'horrendous,' adding: "The road was covered in black ice."

Other witnesses confirmed it was very icy and slippery.

Ken Chapman, representing the family, said there was no sign of the road having been gritted, unlike the nearby B1224 nearby.

But York council officials said their log showed that a citywide gritting operation started at 5pm and a gritting lorry had been along Bradley Lane at about 6pm, with no defects found in the vehicle before or after its run.

The inquest heard it was possible that a heavy rain shower had fallen in the area, which might have washed the salt away before Mr Chapman came along.

Coroner Richard Watson said toxicology results had detected no trace of alcohol in a blood sample, the cause of death was brain injuries and a skull fracture, and he concluded that Mr Chapman died as a result of a road traffic collision.

Paul's mother Deborah said in a statement read out to the inquest that he had been a 'perfect partner' to his fiancee and a family man. She said Paul's son had been 'the apple of his daddy's eye.

"He had time for everyone," she said. "He hadn't a bad bone in his body."

She said Paul had started working at his dad's garage when he was 13 and went on to work full-time there, and would have taken over the family business if it hadn't been for the crash.

She said all of Paul's family and friends had been devastated by his loss.

His father Stephen said: "I am genuinely devastated by the loss of my son. I don't know what I will do without my son."