A motorist who died when his car left a Cumbrian road and crashed into a drystone wall probably dozed off, a coroner has ruled.

An inquest heard that 23-year-old Penrith man Jack Dulson was a talented singer and a born leader – caring, wise, kind, and dedicated to his job as the branch manager of a south Cumbrian car rental firm.

In the week before his death on December 11 last year, the Storm Desmond floods doubled his branch’s workload and he worked at least 61.5 hours but probably longer, a Carlisle inquest heard.

Opening the hearing, assistant coroner Robert Chapman said Mr Dulson, who was born in Carlisle, suffered a fatal head injury after his Volkswagen car left the A6 at Selside, north of Kendal.

Crash scene investigator PC Steven Wakefield said the car that Mr Dulson was driving north that Friday left the road on a left-hand bend at about 8pm, hitting a drystone wall and then flipping over.

There was no evidence of braking by Mr Dulson. The officer agreed with Mr Chapman that Mr Dulson appeared to have been unaware that his car was about to leave the road.

There was no evidence he was distracted. Nor was there evidence of excessive speed.

The officer highlighted that Mr Dulson’s work time-sheet at Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Kendal showed he had worked 61.5 hours that week and left work that Friday at 7.45pm, 15 minutes before the crash.

PC Wakefield outlined how some people suffer from what are known as “micro-sleeps,” caused by sleep deprivation. He concluded that the crash happened as a result of either Mr Dulson nodding off or his being distracted.

Mr Dulson’s partner Helen Atkinson said he was rarely home before 8pm, and always tired.

He went into work on the Sunday of the floods. On the Tuesday of the week when he died, he was called by his area manager and asked to go back to work, not getting back home that night until 11pm.

“He wasn’t happy about having to go back.”

Though it was his choice and he loved his job, he got tired a lot. She added: “He didn’t have time to do all the things he wanted to do... It had an impact on our family life.”

Lynne Mounsey, Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s human resources manager, said Mr Dulson typically worked 53 hours a week. While the floods doubled the Kendal branch’s workload the company also doubled the workforce that week, she said.

Mr Dulson’s father Peter said: “He was a natural born leader.”

He spoke of his son’s great ability; how he drove himself and others to a high achievement; and how he was kind, funny, and “wise beyond his years.”

Recording his conclusion that Mr Dulson died as a result of a road traffic accident, Mr Chapman said the evidence was that he had worked longer than the 61.5 hours recorded on his work timesheet.

He added: “All of this seems to me, on the balance of probabilities, to indicate that it’s likely he did doze off during the journey home and lost control of the car.”

The coroner added: “I’m sure he was very loved by everyone.”