A young man drove his car off 500ft cliffs at Beachy Head in a suicide tragedy on Good Friday, an inquest heard.

Michael Peddar, 20, mounted a kerb then drove across downland until he reached the cliff edge and plunged over in front of startled onlookers.

Tests on refrigeration engineer Mr Peddar, of Priory Avenue, Hastings, showed he had cannabis and amphetamines in his urine and blood.

The Eastbourne inquest heard yesterday that the fact the drugs were in his bloodstream proved they were still active at the time of his death.

East Sussex coroner Alan Craze said his drug use may provide an explanation to Michael's bizarre behaviour before he died.

His older brother, Andrew-Wayne, told the hearing that Michael had phoned him on the morning of the tragedy and said he was "lost somewhere."

Mr Peddar said: "He said someone had chased him and he had got lost. I asked him if he was on drugs and he said, 'Yeah.'

"He said he was round a couple of friends' house, someone got angry and he had to go and they chased him."

Mr Peddar drove to Buxted, near Uckfield, where his younger brother was sitting parked in his black H-registration Citroen speaking on his phone.

Mr Peddar, who lives in Brighton, said: "I asked him how he was and what the hell he was doing." It emerged Michael had ran out of petrol and had been sick.

After helping clean his brother up, Mr Peddar got him some petrol and Michael agreed to drive behind his brother back home to Hastings.

But when they reached the Polegate bypass, Michael - described by his GP as a nice and pleasant young man - took a detour by turning left.

He drove instead to almost the highest point at the notorious cliffs at Beachy Head between 6pm and 6.30pm on March 25.

In statements, witnesses described Michael's revving car mount the pavement near the Beachy Head pub and head towards the edge at speed.

Day-tripper Simon Mitchell said: "The engine was accelerating over the bumpy grass, surging as it went over the bumps.

"My estimation is that the car was doing 30 to 40mph and it didn't slow down at all. He was driving in a straight path, giving the impression he wanted to drive in the direction he was going."

He added: "I noticed a couple of people get out of the way as the car went over the edge. The noise then tapered off. In my opinion, the driver's actions were premeditated."

Fellow visitor Joe Busa, from south London, said in a statement: "There is no way in a million years this was an accident. It was done on purpose."

A post-mortem examination showed that Namibia-born Michael, who lived with his girlfriend, died instantly from multiple injuries.

The inquest heard he had in the past complained of anxiety, anger and lack of employment and had once taken an ecstasy overdose over a relationship split.

Fatal crash investigator PC Mark Hill said he believed Michael had intended to kill himself.

He said the approximate 30 seconds it took to drive from the road to the cliff edge would have been ample time to have stopped. Rolling tyre marks also showed no braking.

Recording a suicide verdict, Mr Craze said: "It is apparent that he had the intention to kill himself."