A "POLITE and quiet" young nurse drowned after her car crashed into a "swollen and fast-flowing river" in the middle of the night, an inquest has heard.

Laurie Jones, 23, had been driving home to Blackwood after a 15-hour shift at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, on October 1 last year.

"She was such a professional, and so dedicated - it was all about her work," Ms Jones' mother Jo told the Argus. "It's been a really hard time, it's heartbreaking."

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The inquest heard that a search operation was launched in the morning of October 1 when Ms Jones did not arrive home.

That afternoon, Gwent Police officers found Ms Jones dead inside her white Volkswagen Beetle, which was almost completely submerged in the River Sirhowy near Wyllie.

The inquest at Newport today heard Ms Jones' car had crashed during "an extended period of poor weather".

Giving evidence, police collision investigator PC Darren Sullivan said CCTV from an Ynysddu pub at 2am had shown Ms Jones driving past in "heavy rain" with a "wet road surface".

Her car had its lights and wipers on, and there was "nothing pointed out that says there was [anything] excessive or different" about Ms Jones' driving.

David Regan, the assistant coroner for Gwent, took as fact that Ms Jones had been wearing a seatbelt and had not consumed alcohol prior to driving.

The inquest heard written evidence from Katie Bolan, whose daughter had been treated by Ms Jones shortly before the end of the nurse's shift.

Ms Bolan said Ms Jones had seemed "exhausted" and had struggled with her words at times.

But reaching his conclusions, Mr Regan said Ms Jones had been used to working nights shifts "capably".

The coroner said it was "impossible" to say exactly what had happened between Ms Jones' car leaving the road and coming to rest in the river.

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But he said it was most likely Ms Jones had lost control as she approached the bend "at no fault of her own". The coroner noted that it had been dark with "extremely heavy rain" at the time she died.

He agreed with a post-mortem conclusion that Ms Jones had drowned and listed a head injury as a contributory factor.

Mrs Jones told the Argus the Cardiff hospital had been lit up in pink, and lowered flags to half-mast, in tribute to her late daughter at the time of her funeral.

During the inquest, the family raised some concerns about the road safety measures in place where Ms Jones crashed.

The coroner said he would have reported the incident to the Highway Authority if that body had not already carried out an investigation following the crash.

Extending his condolences to the family, the coroner said Ms Jones was "clearly a lovely woman who you cared for greatly, and who cared for you greatly".