A cyclist probably hit a kerb and was thrown from his bike and knocked out before being hit by two cars, an inquest has decided.

Lee Wells, 29, who lived with his mother and stepfather at Bowden Crescent, Melksham, had been cycling home from Bromham, where he worked for Mark Wilkinson Furniture, on the night of September 30 last year.

Wiltshire coroner David Ridley heard that Mr Wells had met an old friend, Jonathan Burns, at the Greyhound Inn after work and had three pints of cider before cycling home along the A3102 Sandridge road.

He was not wearing a helmet or reflective clothing, though his specialist mountain bike had front and rear lights. The road was dry but there was no street lighting and overhanging trees made it very dark.

Alison Hale, driving towards Bromham shortly after 8pm that evening, was surprised to see a bike lying in the road and what she at first thought was a bag, but then realised was a man, lying a few yards away. She reversed her car and got out to see if she could help.

She told the inquest: “Before I even got out of the car I could see lights coming towards me from the other direction. I flashed my lights and got out and tried to wave them down, but I couldn’t stop them from hitting the body.”

Jonathan Keast, a former driving instructor from St George in Bristol, was driving a Renault Laguna, the first of the two cars to hit Mr Wells. He said: “I could see the headlights of a car up ahead, which blinded me because of the gradient. I started to brake but I was an unstoppable distance from him when I finally saw him.”

Mr Keast said he was in shock as a result of the incident. As he left the witness stand he told Mr Wells’s family: “I’m ever so sorry.”

Mr Ridley referred to a statement from the driver of the other car that hit Mr Wells, Paula Gregory, who also could not avoid colliding with Mr Wells because she did not see him until it was too late.

A post mortem report by Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue gave the cause of death as multiple injuries as a result of a road traffic collision and a toxicology report said the level of alcohol in Mr Wells’s body was over the drink-drive limit.

Collision investigation officer PC Stephen Cox said that there was no evidence of Mr Wells being in collision with another vehicle that may have caused him to come off his bike.

Mr Ridley delivered a narrative verdict that Mr Wells died as a result of multiple injuries caused by being run over by two vehicles. He said: “The absence of a helmet is relevant, as it could have prevented the head injury. The alcohol in his system would have impaired his judgment.”