A MAN who died after being struck by a lorry had attended his father’s funeral earlier that day, an inquest heard.

Daniel Wallace, 34, is believed to have died instantly after being knocked down by the HGV on the A423 at Mollington, near Banbury, just before midnight on November 21 last year.

Just hours earlier, Mr Wallace had been in a pub with family celebrating the life of his father, who had died a few weeks before.

An inquest into the death was held at Oxford Coroner’s Court yesterday, conducted by Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter.

After attending his dad’s wake in The Merrie Lion, in Fenny Compton, Mr Wallace was driven to the village of Farnborough, where he was due to spend the night at a friend’s house.

But Mr Wallace, who was intoxicated, never made it to the home of his friend, and was inexplicably a mile-and-a-half away on an unlit road with no pavement when he was struck and killed by the lorry.

Driver for UK Mail David Little did not see Mr Wallace, who was wearing a dark suit, until the last moment, and hit him despite trying to swerve.

Mr Little stopped the vehicle and spent 10 minutes searching for what he had hit, eventually finding Mr Wallace lying in some undergrowth by the side of the road.

He called an ambulance and performed CPR on Mr Wallace, who was officially declared dead some time after midnight on the Sunday.

Mr Little said: “I tried so hard to bring him back. I wasn’t going to give up.”

Mr Salter delivered a verdict of death by road traffic collision.