A BEREAVED father says he is happy that people now know his son had no involvement in his own death.

A BEREAVED father says he is happy that people now know his son had no involvement in his own death.

Mark Close died in July 2005 after being hit by a car on the road between Brean and Berrow. An inquest into the 32-year-old's death was held in Taunton this week where a coroner concluded he should not take any blame for his own death.

Evidence from one of the people in the car that hit the father-of-two had previously suggested he may have been standing in the road deliberately.

His dad Anthony, of Orchard Close in East Brent, said: "I am delighted Mark has been exonerated. We are glad justice has been done in the end."

West Somerset coroner Michael Rose recorded a narrative verdict which meant he gave a brief description of what he thought happened on the night Mark was killed.

He said: "The deceased was attempting to cross Berrow Road and was standing on the east side of the carriageway when he was hit by an unlicensed car carrying an unlicensed passenger.

"It hit the deceased with such force it caused his immediate death.

"It then crossed to the correct side of the carriageway without stopping to check on the deceased."

A man was charged with causing death by dangerous driving but last year a crown court judge ruled the accused 20-year-old was not fit to stand trial. The jury still heard the evidence of the case and found the driver not guilty.