AN 85-year-old man from the Wantage area died of severe chest injuries after being involved in a car crash on the A420, an inquest heard.

William Jacobs, who lived in East Challow with his wife Mary, died in the accident near the A417 junction at Faringdon on Thursday, December 21.

Opening an inquest into his death at Oxford Coroner's Court on Thursday, assistant coroner Nicholas Graham said a post mortem examination at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford gave the initial cause of death as 'severe chest injuries'.

The full inquest will be heard and concluded at the court on May 17.