River Trent: drowning of elderly couple in car ruled accidental

Witnesses said there were not able to do anything when John and Patricia Lillistone’s car entered the river Trent without stopping. Photograph: PA

The death of an elderly couple who drowned when their car was swept away in the River Trent after heavy rain last year was accidental, a coroner has ruled.

John Lillistone, 83, and his wife, Patricia, 82, could not be rescued when their car entered the water at Hoveringham, Nottinghamshire, on 1 February last year.