A YOUNG Bromley man lay undiscovered for four days after his car plunged down the side of a motorway on his way home from seeing his girlfriend, an inquest has heard.

Karl Josiah's car slewed from the carriageway and landed in trees and bushes undetectable from the roadside, or even from the air, after it is believed he fell asleep at the wheel.

The 23-year-old's family and friends launched a desperate search for him after failing to convince police he was missing.

Once officers joined the search they found the Renault Clio, which he had borrowed from his mother, on a patch of wasteland, with him dead inside it.

The vehicle was obscured by trees and bushes, having rolled down a roadside gully and hit a concrete culvert.

The inquest into his death heard how he had journeyed from his home in Treewall Gardens, on January 18 this year to visit his girlfriend, Sarah Foster, who lived in Newbury, Berkshire.

The pair had gone out for the evening before Karl dropped Sarah off at around 3.15am the following morning and set off for home.

He had sent her a text at 3.39am telling her he was "drowsy" and she warned him to stay awake.

At around 5.30am, when she had not heard from her boyfriend but expected him to be home, Sarah tried calling him but found his phone was off.

Sarah and her mother joined in the search for Karl along the side of the M4 through Berkshire.

A statement from Sarah, which was read out at the inquest by Berkshire Coroner Peter Bedford, read: “The family were searching, there were frequent trips along the road.

"It wasn't until January 23 you describe being out searching with your mum, there were police on the hard shoulder and the awful truth was revealed."

Sarah said that she had not seen Karl take any drugs, and that she was not aware that he did take drugs.

However, she did say that he had drunk around a pint and a quarter of beer.

A post mortem examination showed that Karl had consumed cannabis, cocaine and a small amount of alcohol prior to his death.

However, the inquest heard it was unlikely he was under the influence of any substance - although the come-down from the cocaine may have caused him to feel drowsy and tired.

His cause of death was given as multiple injuries, caused by the impact of the crash.

Karl was discovered at around 1.06pm on January 23 after Highways Agency officers noticed marks between junctions six and five of the M4, at Slough, which led down a grass verge to undergrowth which hid the car.

Earlier a police helicopter had been deployed to look for Karl, although it had been unable to spot him through the greenery.

Collision investigator Tony Reading said the car had gone down the grass verge and hit a concrete drainage culvert, which caused it to bounce off, and land on its side, around 15 metres below the motorway level.

There had been heavy snow that day, and although there was snow on the verge and possibly on the hard shoulder, the road itself had been clear.

Mr Reading said that the car had been travelling at "a speed of at least 70mph", and that Karl had failed to negotiate a gentle bend.

He said that Karl had not attempted to steer the car, or applied the brakes, which implied he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Mr Reading said: "Millions of cars travel round that bend every day, that's the first time this has happened.

"If you're awake you drive round the bend, if you're asleep you carry on in a straight line.

"Unfortunately that's what Karl has done, he's carried on straight with no steering input, which is why he's left the road."

Karl's father David Joseph asked Mr Reading why police had taken so long to start looking for Karl.

Mr Josiah asked: "It was four days before they started looking.

"They wouldn't even look, we had to send people to Newbury to verify he was even there.

"We got four witnesses to prove he was in the area, after that they agreed they would check his phone which came up at junction 10.

"They said they did not have the manpower or money to search for a young man who might have gone off to a hotel with someone."

Mr Reading said that Thames Valley Police had been informed Karl was missing by the Metropolitan Police on January 23, and they had commenced their search immediately.

Mr Bedford said Karl could have pulled over and taken a rest break if he had been tired.

He said: "We have the fact that by his own acknowledgment he was drowsy, the fact he deliberately embarked on a long journey in the early hours of the morning.

"He was impaired by the substances in his system.

"Karl must have driven past not one, but two service stations giving him the opportunity to pull over and take a break, which is well documented in the Highway Code."

Coroner Peter Bedford recorded a verdict of misadventure.