A teenager was killed in a quad-bike accident on her first holiday abroad as her friends watched.

Shannon O'Dwyer was on the third day of her holiday in Zante, days after her 18th birthday, when she persuaded two of her friends to hire quad bikes on August 20 last year.

After riding down the strip and to the beach on the Greek island they decided to go on a main road as there was less traffic.

The Croydon College student lost control and swerved into a car on the other side of the road.

The Shirley teenager was taken to hospital but nothing could be done to save her.

Giving evidence at the inquest into her death at Croydon Coroner's Court yesterday, Summer Payne said she had warned her friend about going too fast.

The 19-year-old, who was the passenger on another bike, said as they approached her they could see she was not sitting on the vehicle properly.

Miss Payne said: "You could see her legs on the top of the bike and she was squatting.

"She was quite tall so I don't think she realised how far off the seat she was.

"Me and Jade got up behind her saying 'What are you doing? What are you being stupid for?'

"The bike was still moving and started swerving and I knew she knew she did not have control of the bike.

"She looked at me, gave me full eye contact [as if to say] she knew she was in trouble.

"You could just see something was not right.

"[The bike] was going from two wheels on to the other two wheels."

She told the inquest she thought Miss O'Dwyer was trying to sit down as a silver car approached but one of her hands accidentally slipped on the throttle.

"The car was coming towards her and I knew something was going to happen.

"It swerved into the path of the car and the car has just got her."

Jade Lloyd was driving the other quad bike and told the inquest she knew something was going to happen when she saw the car approaching.

The 21-year-old said: "I just think it happened so quickly she didn't quite know what to do.

"It was within the space of 10 seconds it felt like from us having fun to when I was screaming."

The inquest heard Miss O'Dwyer was the only one of the trio to have ridden a quad bike before, when she was younger.

They had asked for helmets at the hire place but were not given any and Miss Lloyd said her friend had not wanted to go back to pick some up.

Addressing Miss O'Dwyer's parents she said: "I want to say that she was enjoying life 100 per cent and I don't think there is anything we could have done to prevent it from happening.

"Even if we had the helmets there, Shannon would not have wanted to wear one.

"Shannon did not want to wear it. There's nothing we could have said to make her wear it."

Miss O'Dwyer had a provisional driving licence.

Toxicology reports revealed there were no drink nor drugs in her system at the time of the accident.

Recording a conclusion of death by road traffic collision, the assistant coroner for south London Sonia Hayes, said: "To lose a young child is heartbreaking and you have my deepest and sincerest sympathies."