PC Mark Phillip, the collision investigator, told the inquest that text messages on his phone suggested he was in an emotional and agitated state before the crash.

Daniel’s mother, Sally, said she had spoken to him the day before, when he had seemed upbeat about meeting an ex-girlfriend the next day.

But seconds after leaving his home at 9.30pm, he swerved into the car coming the other way. PC Phillip said the reasons for the severe steering manoeuvre were unknown.

Originally from Barnoldswick in Lancashire, Daniel decided to stay in Warwickshire after studying Maths at the University of Warwick.

He had been a Senior Finance Executive at Atlantic Airlines, a British cargo airline based in Coventry, for the past seven years, and leaves behind four-year-old daughter Ruby Lambert.

A statement from Daniel’s mother said: “Losing Dan was not something we ever expected and he has left a massive hole.”

She recalled fondly the time when his school forced him to retake his general SATs because he got 100 per cent. The mathematically-gifted child proved it was no fluke and got 100 per cent again.

His dad, Ian said: “For Daniel to drive a vehicle having had drink was out of character for him. Under normal circumstances he would not have got into that vehicle.”

Assistant Deputy Coroner, John Buckley, recorded a verdict of accidental death.