A motorist was "blinded by sunlight" moments before he hit a pedestrian, an inquest heard.

Nicholas Baker, 68, died after he was hit by a green Ford Focus, driven by Edward Colfox, while walking his neighbour’s dog on North Road, Chideock.

Mr Baker’s widow, Hilary Baker told the coroner Mr Baker had been his ‘usual self’ when he went for a walk at 2.30pm on August 30, 2017.

She added Mr Baker had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease but this had not had affected his mobility.

Giving evidence, Edward Colfox said he had concerns about his vehicle and on the morning of the crash, took it to a mechanic where he was told the car would fail an MOT but was safe to continue to drive.

Mr Colfox said on the day of the crash he was driving alone on a straight section of road, travelling from sunshine into shade.

“It was a bright day. It was a day with big clouds and bright blue sky," he said.

Mr Colfox said he saw a dog ‘momentarily’ before being 'blinded by the sunlight'. He then hit an unknown object.

“I wasn’t certain what I actually hit but I suspected it was a person,” he said. "I did not see a face. I saw clothing."

Forensic pathologist, Dr Amanda Jeffery said Mr Baker sustained injuries to his left side, the most significant being skull fracturing and a brain injury.

He also suffered a spinal fracture and fractured ribs, pelvis and left shin bone.

She added there was no evidence of a 'medical event' prior to the crash.

Serious collision officer, Sergeant Joe Pardey, said evidence showed at the point of collision Mr Baker was standing up facing the car.

He added the car was travelling at 25.86mph.

The inquest heard police tested Mr Colfox for drugs and alcohol at the scene and he was found to have cannabis in his system.

Mr Colfox admitted he had consumed cannabis around midnight the night before but declined to say how much.

He added at the time of the collision his driving ability was not impaired.

Sgt Pardey said police took a blood test at 8.20pm which showed Mr Colfox to have 0.6 microgrammes of cannabis in 100 millilitres of blood - below the drug-driving limit and officers did not believe he was impaired at the scene.

Sgt Pardey said Mr Colfox's vehicle was found to be in an ‘unroadworthy condition’ but this had not been contributory to the crash.

However, several pieces of A4 paper were found on the dashboard which Sgt Pardey said in the sunny conditions may have been a 'factor in the crash'.

"The paper had the effect of mirroring its image back on to screen which may have caused vision issues," he said.

In her conclusion, senior coroner, Rachael Griffin said Mr Baker has sustained category 1A multiple injuries which were ‘non-survivable’. She added the fact he was not seen may have been due to the change from sunshine to shadow.

Mrs Griffin concluded that Mr Baker died as the result of a road traffic collision.