The cause of a crash which killed a 72-year-old man near Wymondham has remained a mystery following an inquest into his death.

Peter Thomas, of Hethersett, died in January after his Seat Ibiza left the Melton Road and collided with a tree.

However, a police investigation into the incident was unable to determine exactly what happened to cause the fatal incident - which saw Mr Thomas die at the scene.

The crash happened shortly after 11.30am on Monday, January 22, when Mr Thomas was travelling in the direction of Wymondham.

An inquest into his death was held on Friday, during which a forensic crash investigation report written by Norfolk Constabuary's Kerry Harman was read to the court.

The investigation examined several circumstances surrounding the crash, but was unable to determine with any degree of certainty exactly what led to the fatal incident.

The report stated that road and weather conditions were favourable at the time and there were no defects found with Mr Thomas' car which may have contributed.

During the impact, the speedometer in the car read 39mph, meaning the retired builder was travelling well within the 60mph speed limit of the road.

Ms Harman said that it could not be ruled out that Mr Thomas had lost control of the vehicle due to wildlife in the area, that he had taken a deliberate act, or that he may have suffered a medical episode at the wheel.

However, she added that there was insufficient evidence to suggest any of these theories were more likely than the others.

The court also heard that Mr Thomas suffered from Scheurmann's Disease - a curvature in the spine - and that he had been suffering from shoulder pain in the days leading up to the crash.

Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk, concluded that Mr Thomas had died as a result of a road traffic collision.

She said: "It is not known why Mr Thomas' car left the road."