A coroner has recorded a verdict of misadventure on a teenager from near Market Drayton who died in a horror car crash just days before she was due to go on her first date.

Rebecca Canning, from Loggerheads, suffered fatal injuries in the crash in January. In the wake of the tragedy her devastated family revealed Miss Canning had been looking forward to her first date when she was killed.

Today they thanked all those who came to their daughter’s aid after the smash on the A51 between Nantwich and Woore on January 11.

In a statement the family said: “We would like to thank everybody who helped at the scene of the crash and also the family liaison officer, Constable Tony Hayhurst, of Cheshire Police.

“We were touched when many people from around the world made donations to good causes in Miss Canning’s memory and when the college she attended held fundraising memorial events as well.”

At yesterday’s inquest at Chester Magistrates Court, assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire, Michael Wallbank, recorded a verdict of misadventure on the 18-year-old, who spent her early life in Telford.

Mr Wallbank heard how Miss Canning was driving a silver Daewoo Lanos along the southbound A51 when the vehicle left the road and struck a tree.

He was told emergency services attended the scene, at Doddington, south of Nantwich, but were unable to save her. Miss Canning had been driving home from South Cheshire College in Crewe, where she was training to become a beautician.

It is believed Miss Canning lost control of the car.

Speaking after the crash, Miss Canning’s parents, John and Susan Canning, paid tribute to their daughter. Mrs Canning said: “She was a typical girl. She loved pink. She loved hair and beauty and things like doing her nails.

“She wanted to work on the cruise ships and she was going to go on her first date.”

Her father added she had been hard working and had taken a part-time job at B&Q in Telford to pay for her car and any repairs.

As a child Miss Canning went to school in Oakengates, Telford, before the family went to Loggerheads.