A FEARNHEAD driver was killed when a tyre nearly two decades old blew out on the coach he was driving causing it to crash, an inquest has heard.

The Government has now been called on to look at the issue of vehicle tyre age after the incident meant 63-year-old Colin Daulby would have only had three seconds to react and could have done nothing before the coach smashed into a tree.

The crash in Surrey also killed Kerry Ogden, aged 23, and 18-year-old Michael Molloy, both from Liverpool, as the 52-seater Merseypride coach headed back to the north from the Bestival music festival on the Isle of Wight in September 2012.

Mr Daulby, who has been described as an experienced, safe and careful driver, battled to control the coach after the blow-out on the front nearside tyre occurred, making the coach veer to the left, mount the embankment, crash through a fence and into the tree.

All three died instantly in the crash from multiple injuries, the hearing was told.

Surrey coroner Richard Travers said that the ‘catastrophic failure’ of the tyre, that was two years older than the coach, had caused the accident and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

The inquest heard the tyre had been bought second hand by the company and had legal tread and was perfectly legal to use.

A tyre expert said it could have been falling apart internally for perhaps months but it would not have been noticeable to the eye.

Tests showed Mr Daulby, who was well known in the town for taking groups to bingo and wearing a blue and primrose jesters hat driving to Warrington games, had not consumed alcohol or drugs.

The Merseypride Travel company is due at Guildford Magistrates' Court on August 12 to answer a charge of using a defective tyre on the vehicle that did not contribute to the accident, Surrey police said.