A young mum and her grandmother died when the car they were in collided with a van while returning from a family day out, an inquest heard.

Hayley Sarah Murdoch, 29, and Sheila Dixon, 70, both of Carlisle, died following a road traffic collision on the A595 at Newby Cross on February 23 last year.

Both were passengers in a black Kia Picanto, driven by Mrs Dixon's husband Jonah, which collided head-on with a white Ford Transit van at about 3.20pm.

The Kia drifted onto the wrong side of the road, the hearing was told.

A post-mortem ruled Mrs Murdoch died of severe head injuries and Mrs Dixon died of multiple injuries.

Mrs Murdoch's son, Logan, now four, was sat in a booster seat in the back of the car and suffered a broken ankle, punctured lung and was fitted with a halo brace to stabilise his neck.

Mr Dixon, who can only walk short distances since the collision and attended the inquest in a wheelchair, told police in an interview that he could not remember what had happened or where he was driving from.

Mrs Murdoch and Mrs Dixon were pronounced dead at the scene and Logan and Mr Dixon were airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary at Newcastle.

PC Craig Irving, of Cumbria Police's collision investigation unit, told the inquest he believed either fatigue or a distraction were responsible for Mr Dixon's car drifting onto the wrong side of the road.

A statement from the family said: “As a family we continue to support both Jonah and Logan in their recovery from the accident.

"We are a close family and now the inquest is over, we will support each other in trying to move our lives forward.

“This is something Sheila and Hayley would of wanted us to do.

"We cherish their memory and miss them both every day.”

Mrs Murdoch's husband, John, described Mr Dixon as his wife's hero in a statement.

Mr Murdoch left early to drive to Aberdeen for work on the day of the incident, the inquest heard.

It was his wife's day off from her job at First Steps Day Nursery and she would often use those days to go on day trips with her grandparents and Logan to Silloth where they would eat fish and chips.

He believes that is where they were returning from when the collision happened.

Mark Hewitt, who works for WF Cleaning, was driving his Ford Transit work van home to Aspatria when he noticed the Kia drift onto his side of the road about 400 yards away.

Mr Hewitt said he initially thought it was young drivers messing around but realised he was going to hit the car when it was about 15 yards away and swerved onto the other side of the road without braking.

He was too late to avoid the collision, which smashed in the passenger side of his van and spun the Kia 180 degrees.

He said he has mostly recovered physically from the incident but does not know if he has fully recovered mentally.

Several witness statements supported Mr Hewitt's version of events and gouges in the surface of the road showed the Kia was on the wrong side of the road when the vehicles collided.

One witness statement said it might have been the van which had drifted onto the wrong side of the road.

Area coroner Kally Cheema concluded that Mrs Murdoch and Mrs Dixon died as a result of a road traffic collision.