A BABY who was killed in a car crash had been taken out of her safety seat by her mother moments before the impact, an inquest heard.

Sophia Salvia, 13 months, received multiple and fatal injuries when the family's Renault Laguna collided with another car near their holiday home at Villaines la Juhel, Pays de Loire, France.

The baby's father, Gabrielo, told the hearing the family, who live in Sixpenny Handley, north Dorset, had been out for a meal that evening with his brother and sister-in-law at a pizzeria less than two miles from the house.

During the meal he drank two and-a-half glasses of wine and just before getting behind the wheel also had a shot of whisky. "I didn't feel under the influence at all. That's the reason why I didn't ask my wife to drive," he said.

Mr Salvia's son, Gino, seven, sat to his left, and his wife Tracy put Sophia into her car seat in the back. They had just set off and he was still in third gear on the CD 119 road when he heard his daughter crying and looked at his son to speak to him.

"I noticed headlights in front of me. That's when the accident happened. I didn't have time to brake. If I had known my wife had taken my daughter out of the car seat, I would have stopped to place her back in the seat," he said.

He said the baby had been tired and hungry, and was being breastfed when the accident happened. Sophia was taken to hospital about 18 miles away in Alençon, but was pronounced dead at 1.45am.

Mr Salvia, who runs a hairdressing business with his wife, was breathalysed and was found to be just over the French drink drive limit.

The other driver, Thierry Clement, tested positive for cannabis and morphine.

He told French police that he had been to a concert about a week before and smoked cannabis, but had not had any drugs since. "I saw the vehicle in front of me, facing head on. I pulled to the right, the other driver did the same," he said.

Mr Salvia told the inquest: "It happened so fast. It's a narrow road. I'm not denying the fact that I was in the middle of the road. I was riding the white line. I think he was doing the same. There's no way I was on the wrong side of the road."

He added: "On those roads you don't really get cars at night."

Mr Salvia was convicted by a French court last November for driving on the wrong side of the road, but told the inquest: "I didn't know what was going on. We were in a state of shock and confusion."

East Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne recorded the verdict that Sophia died as a result of injuries received on the highway. "This was a tragic accident," he said.