A MOTHER of twins was over the drink drive limit when she was killed after her car careered out of control at high speed and crashed into a lamp post.

Emma Scowcroft, aged 28, was not wearing a seat belt when her car careered out of control into a lamp post.

She was propelled part way out of the driver's side window when the car hit the lamp post as she was returning home from a night out on Sunday, June 7 last year, a inquest heard.

Miss Scowcroft, of Selkirk Road, Astley Bridge, had been returning home to pick up her mother, after a night out with friends when she lost control of the Vauxhall Corsa on Thornham Drive.

An inquest was told that on the day she died she had been drinking at a friend's barbecue and had fallen out with her boyfriend.

Clair Taylor, the 20-year-old passenger, also from Astley Bridge, who escaped with only minor injuries, said that Emma had had a "row" with her boyfriend some time earlier in the day.

She said she had seen Emma, a mother of six-year-old twins, having a drink but did not know how much.

Miss Taylor said that on the way to pick up Emma's mum, they stopped outside her boyfriend's house.

Emma did a wheel spinoutside the house and then "started driving mad again," as they left. In a statement to police Miss Taylor added: "I would say she was speeding but I don't know what speed she was doing."

The inquest also heard witness statements from three Thornham Drive residents who all reported hearing a car driving "at speed" before hearing a bang.

The inquest heard that Emma's blood alcohol level was twice over the legal limit - the equivalent of four pints of ordinary strength beer.

PC David Winstanley, an accident investigator, said the car had been driving above the speed limit of 30mph but that he could not be exact by how much.

He added that Emma had not been wearing her seatbelt.

As a result, when she lost control of the car she was thrown part-way out of the driver's side window. This resulted in her head being trapped between the car and the pavement when it turned over, causing massive head injuries.

She died at the Royal Bolton Hospital, hours after the accident.

Coroner Jennifer Leeming recorded a verdict of an accidental death. She said the accident was a tragedy and that Emma was a "popular," "outgoing" "kind" woman.

She added: "We are dealing with a death of a young woman, with two young children, who had her life before her, and more than that was enjoying her life."

The Coroner has asked Greater Manchester Police's traffic management unit to examine Thornham Drive and assess its safety.