Either inexperience behind the wheel or a momentary distraction caused an 18-year-old Bristol girl to crash to her death in the Wye Valley, a coroner concluded yesterday.

Hannah Rosher, who worked at a call centre in Aust, was driving home to Brislington from her boyfriend's home in Monmouth when she careered off the A466 at Bigsweir on 5th January this year.

Her car hit a tree and she suffered fatal injuries including a massive loss of blood and a cerebral haemorrhage.

After hearing that she had not had any alcohol or drugs and was not speeding or using her phone at the time of the crash, Coroner David Dooley recorded an accidental death verdict.

Her father Steve said after the Gloucester inquest: "She would never drink and drive and she would not speed. But there we are, nothing is going to bring her back.

"Our beautiful daughter was the epitome of everything a parent could wish for in a child, She brought radiance and love and laughter into the lives of her family and many friends.

"The extraordinary void left by her death will never be filled. But the memory of her gorgeous smile and the happiness she brought to each and every life she touched will live on forever.

"We will always feel blessed and so very proud to have had her."

The inquest heard Hannah had been staying at her boyfriend D'Arcy Edwards' home in Monmouth since 2nd January. On the morning of the 5th they both set off in their own cars – he to drive to work at the same call centre in Aust and her to drive home.

In a statement he said he set off before her and did not see her on the road again. At Tintern he saw two police cars going the other way but did not think anything of it.

"The road is quite windy and you need to be careful if you are not familiar with it," he stated.

Accident investigator PC David Holland said Mr Edwards had sent her a text at 8.35am saying 'Couldn't keep up' followed by a line of kisses but that was sent after she crashed and therefore could not have distracted her.

"Our view is that this was not a suggestion they were racing – it was just that he had lost sight of her," added the officer.

Another police investigator, PC Malcolm Shute, told the inquest that her car had apparently gone onto the nearside verge on a left hand bend and she had then over-corrected and lost control.

The car crossed the road and hit a tree before going down an embankment and hitting a mature tree. The car speedometer was stuck at 45mph – well within the 60mph limit on the road.

Farmer John Cullimore, who was on the other side of the river, said in a statement that he heard a loud bang from the Lydbrook-Monmouth road and saw a silver car down the bank.

He realised it had hit a tree and he went to see if he could help.

Linda Evans, who was driving from Lydbrook to Chepstow, said she came across debris on the road and noticed tyre marks going off the road. She turned and went back to the scene where she saw the car down the bank.

She went to see if she could help Hannah but checked for a pulse and could not find one.

PC Holland said "The reason why she misjudged the bend and lost control is most likely that she was distracted for reasons unknown and her driving inexperience caused her to over-react when making contact with the verge.

"Excessive right hand steering caused loss of control and she then crossed the opposing carriageway and collided with a tree."

The coroner agreed that inexperience and a possible distraction – perhaps merely because the scenery was so attractive or because she was doing something with her radio or CD player – led to the tragedy.