Debris in chest killed spectator

A spectator at an international drag racing championship died when a piece of debris hit him in the chest.

An inquest into the death of Roger Terence George, 64, from Hingham in Norfolk, heard that he died in Bedford Hospital on Sunday.

He had been watching the FIA European Drag Racing Championships at Santa Pod Raceway in Podington, on the border between Northants and Bedfordshire.

Coroner David Morris said he died from a haemothorax-penetrating chest injury.

A spokeswoman for Bedfordshire Police said the object was projected into the crowd when a car opened its rear parachute.

It is not clear whether a piece of the vehicle sheared off when the parachute opened or whether it was a piece of debris from the track which flew into the crowd.

A spokeswoman for Santa Pod said it was unable to comment while a police investigation is carried out.