A CORONER has expressed concerns about the removal of a speed camera on the A370 in East Brent following the death of a teenager on the stretch.

Billy Davis was 19 when his BMW crashed into a telegraph pole and burst into flames at 2.10am on September 18 last year.

The crash happened near a speed camera which had been switched off just a few weeks earlier.

An inquest in Taunton on Thursday heard Mr Davis, of Weston, was one-and-a-half times over the legal drink-drive limit at the time of the incident.

He was driving between 60 and 70mph on the 40mph stretch and lost control on a left hand bend before hitting the telegraph pole.

Two injured passengers escaped and saw the car on fire - probably caused by low levels of petrol in the tank at the time, the inquest heard.

The pathologist determined that Mr Davis died on impact and not in the fire.

After recording a narrative verdict, West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose said he would be writing to Somerset County Council with concerns about the removal of the speed camera.

However, Mr Rose would not make a formal recommendation for speed controls on the stretch on the basis of one incident.

Afterward, a Somerset County Council spokesman said: “Enforcement cameras are no longer within the control of the county council.

“The police are now solely responsible for camera enforcement across the county. We will be urging police to focus their mobile camera enforcement on road casualty sites.”