A coroner has delivered an open verdict after a debt-riddent motorist blew himself up as he drove along on a busy motorway.

David Clarke, aged 37, of Leek Road, Cellarhead, set light to petrol in his vehicle on the M5 minutes after sending emotional texts to his partner and his ex-wife.

He had owed around £38,000 and £11,000 on six credit cards that were up to the credit limits.

An inquest in Cheltenham heard that traces of petrol and the remains of a cigarette lighter were found in the melted remains of the 37-year-old's Ford Transit van following the blaze.

But coroner Alan Crickmore told the hearing that he could not be certain that Mr Clarke, of Leek Road, Cellarhead, had intended to kill himself.

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