Cyclists are being warned not to ride bikes while listening to MP3 music players after the death of an Oxfordshire teenager.

Abi Haythorne, from Benson, was killed as she rode her red and silver mountain bike in front of a silver Vauxhall Cavalier on the A4074, near RAF Benson.

The 17-year-old, a former pupil at Icknield Community College in Watlington, had an MP3 player in a pocket and the earphones in her scarf - leading Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner to issue a warning about using them.

Christopher Mills, of Church View, Berinsfield, told an inquest yesterday he was driving to work at Huntercombe Young Offenders' Institution at about 7.10am on October 28 last year when Miss Haythorne pulled out from a cycle lane into the main carriageway.

He said: "I hadn't expected her to come straight out. I hit the brakes as hard as I could."

Pc Gavin Newman said he found an MP3 player in the pocket of Miss Haythorne's jeans but could not be sure whether she was listening to it at the time of the accident.

He said: "Later on, we found that the display light was illuminated but I couldn't tell if it was on. I couldn't work out if it had been playing at the time.

"Her earphones were found tucked inside her neck scarf."

Pc Mark Howard said the accident happened at a pedestrian crossing near the Preston Crowmarsh turn. He estimated Mr Mills's car was travelling at no more than 45mph.

He added a person of normal hearing would have had no trouble hearing a car at that speed.

In a written statement, Miss Haythorne's mother Gina said her daughter was on her way to work at Downlands Kennels, in Cholsey.

Mrs Haythorne added: "She was very keen on music and was almost always wearing an iPod or MP3 player with headphones."

The 37-year-old added although she had never seen her daughter cycle wearing headphones, it would not surprise her if she did.

Dr Elizabeth Soilleux, a consultant pathologist at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, said Miss Haythorne died from head injuries.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: "I don't think Mr Mills would have had any chance to avoid that collision. Why she didn't see the car, I don't know.

"There was a possibility she was wearing headphones at the time and I would stress that it is actually quite dangerous for motorcyclists and cyclists in that it blocks out a whole series of sounds about what is happening around you."

After the hearing, Mrs Haythorne paid tribute to her daughter, who lived with her family - including father Derek, 40, and brothers George, 15, and Will, 14 - at their home in Passey Crescent.

She said: "She was very outgoing and had lots of friends. She was very full of life."