A veterinary student who was struck by a train after a drunken night out with friends had “no intention of harming himself”, an inquest heard.

Benjamin Ingledew, a fourth year student at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) was hit by a train half a mile from Potters Bar railway station at 12.14am on Sunday, May 5, 2013.

After a two-day inquest at Hatfield Coroners Court, Coroner Edward Thomas recorded a conclusion of accidental death and said Mr Ingledew had probably been trying to cross the tracks to get home.

On the night of the accident, the 22-year-old had been drinking vodka and wine with his best friend and housemate of four years, Chris Geotschel, before heading out to the student union bar.

As the night wrapped up, the two left the bar and their friend, Daisy Johnson, but Mr Ingledew walked ahead of the other two.

Mr Thomas said: “When Ben got on the tracks, he had no intention of harming himself. He was very happy and he had a good night out.

“I have no evidence this is a suspicious death, but I have evidence he would have had impaired co-ordination and disorientation. People do things they would be surprised about in the cold light of day.

“I think he was crossing the line to try and get back to where he entered it from, because he realised he couldn’t get out that way.”

Mr Ingledew's family, who live in Surrey, were told he had died on the same day, which was a bank holiday Saturday - but had no further contact with any police officials until staff returned to work on Tuesday.

Mr Thomas added: “It would have been very advisable to appoint a family liaison officer even for a short period of time to give them a point of contact.

“The family were left hanging in the air about what later would have been happening. I am sure the difficulties the family experienced were worsened by that 48-hour hiatus.”