A WOMAN who died after being hit by a car had been laying in the road after drinking.

An inquest into the death of Lucy Charlton has revealed that she had been laying on The Avenue in Southampton when she was struck by a car and dragged 50 metres down the road.

The 26-year-old from Southampton was killed in the accident on January 5, 2019, at around 2am.

Coroner Jason Pegg ruled that Miss Charlton’s death was caused by multiple injuries, including a number of broken bones and a fractured skull.

The court heard how Miss Charlton had alcohol in her system - the level of alcohol in her blood was found to be 2.8 times the drink drive limit. 

Miss Charlton’s friend explained in a statement read by Mr Pegg that the two of them had visited Southampton city centre on January 4 and bought a bottle of Sambuca and “a few cans of beer” before heading back to his flat where they drank.

Later that evening, at around 8.30pm, the pair went to meet a friend at The Griffin Inn on Anglesea Road in Shirley. They stayed at the pub until closing.

Once back at his flat, the trio drank some more before before Miss Charlton was asked to leave at around 1am by another friend at the flat.

A taxi driver said in a witness statement that he had “become aware of a woman in the road” just after 1am adding that she “appeared to be drunk”.

It is believed by police that Miss Charlton had laid down in the road before she was struck by a Ford Fiesta.

The driver of the car, a man in his 20s, said that Miss Charlton had “come out of no where”.

Miss Charlton was dragged down the road by the car, which had been travelling at an estimated 35mph.

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