The opening of an inquest into the deaths of four Shrewsbury teenagers who died after their car left the road in North Wales has shown the provisional cause of death to be drowning.

The inquest was opened today at Caernarfon and heard post-mortem examinations on all four teenagers.

Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett and Hugo Morris were reported missing on Sunday 19th November. The teenagers had travelled to the North Wales area for an overnight camping trip.

Their bodies were recovered from a silver Ford Fiesta which had left the A4085 at Garreg, near Tremadog and came to rest upside down in water.

The car was discovered following information provided by a member of the public to North Wales Police on Tuesday 21st November.

A multi-agency search had been undertaken in the area and a media appeal was made by police to help locate the missing teenagers.

Senior coroner for north-west Wales, Kate Robertson, said: “All four were travelling in a motor vehicle along the A4085 when the vehicle left the road, leading to their deaths.”

She told the hearing that the police investigation was “ongoing” and a full inquest would take place when investigations were completed by North Wales Police.

No date has been set for the full hearings.

The coroner offered her condolences to the families of the four boys, who were not in attendance at the short hearing.