A YOUNG man described as the glue that held his family together died when his car went through a puddle and he lost control and careered into a tree, an inquest has heard.

Taxi driver Adnan Nazir, of Poplar Street, Nelson, was driving home from work along Whalley Road in Clitheroe on January 28 when the incident happened.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Recording the verdict at Burnley Magistrates Court, coroner Richard Taylor concluded Mr Nazir, 21, died of multiple injuries sustained as the result of a road traffic collision and said there were a number of contributing factors as to what happened.

He said: “Mr Nazir was on his own early in the morning making his way home from working as a taxi driver.

“He was driving in a 40mph zone with his speed between 50 and 60mph.

“There were suggestions he hadn’t had much sleep and lost control of the vehicle.”

Giving evidence at the inquest, collision investigator PC Rachel Carbery said that at the time of the accident, it was dark and had been raining.

She said there was a puddle in the road measuring 30m in length and 6cm in depth and a temporary warning sign had been placed on a tree 60m before the puddle.

It was heard that Mr Nazir had been speeding in his Skoda Octavia along a dimly lit stretch of Whalley Road at around 6.20am when he overtook a vehicle and then hit the puddle before crashing into a tree.

PC Carbery said: “The driver of the vehicle lost control due to inattention and inappropriate steering going through the water.”

The court also heard suggestions that Mr Nazir had only had four hours sleep in the two days leading up to the incident and was not wearing a seatbelt.

However, Mr Taylor said there was no evidence to suggest wearing a seatbelt could’ve prevented his death.

A toxicology analysis found there to be no alcohol or drugs in Mr Nazir’s system and there were no indications of any defects to the car prior to this.

Mr Nazir’s family were not present at the inquest but tributes given at the time of his death said: “He was the glue that held everyone together.”