91Èȱ¬

A "hoarder" was killed when he stopped on the motorway to check a stray box on the carriageway, an inquest has heard.

Colin Roberts, 69, was bending over in the carriageway when he was hit by a church minister in her Audi car on the M4 near Swansea on 30 November 2019.

The van driver had parked on the hard shoulder and was looking at a shoebox-sized parcel when he was struck, an inquest in Swansea heard.

He was sent flying by Adriana Fodor, 36, who had been driving at 70mph.

The inquest was told the church minister was in her Audi Q3 heading to a service when she saw a man in a green vest standing in the centre of two lanes, bending over to pick something up.

Ms Fodor said she did her best to avoid the haulage company van driver - but struck him with the front passenger side of her car and Mr Roberts landed near the hard shoulder.

A witness said there was "no way" Miss Fodor could have seen him earlier because other vehicles on the M4 westbound carriageway would have obscured her view.

Witness Owen Evans said Mr Roberts, of Ystradgynlais in Powys, went up in the air in a "flipping motion feet first".

Mr Evans also noticed a small shoebox-sized orange item on the floor not far from Mr Roberts.

His family said Mr Roberts "loved to collect things for a rainy day".

His niece Amanda Aston described her uncle as a "hoarder" and said she was not surprised he had stopped his van on the hard shoulder - and he may have felt something hit his van and gone to retrieve it.

His family paid tribute to "Col Boy" who liked "living life to the full and looking for the next adventure."

Coroner Colin Phillips recorded a conclusion of death by road traffic collision.