A young soldier who survived two tours of Afghanistan died after being gassed in his own garage by a faulty exhaust.

The Daily Mail reports that 20-year-old Kyle Hudson from Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire was working on his car in the garage of his home in December 2009 – and kept the garage doors shut because of the cold weather.

The engine of the Citroen Saxo was also left running, an inquest heard. Both he and his 18-year-old girlfriend, who was with him, were found unconscious by his mother.

Private Hudson was a member of F Company of the 4th Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, and had returned from his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. He and his girlfriend had also just returned from a holiday in the US with his parents in the weeks before he died. He had described the holiday as ‘the best two weeks of his life’, the inquest was told.

Derbyshire Police vehicle examiner Trevor Jones found two cracks in the car’s exhaust system – one inside the engine bay – and tests also revealed that high levels of carbon monoxide were being produced by the car, especially when the engine was run ‘cold’.

Mr Jones told the inquest that this ‘made it possible’ for toxic fumes to be released into the engine bay while the car was at standstill. He said the fumes ‘could easily have been sucked through the car’s heating’.

Kyle was not breathing when he was found, but his girlfriend Jodie Collier was ‘unconsciousness but groaning’. Kyle was taken to Burton’s Queen’s Hospital – where he was pronounced dead – while Jodie regained consciousness and was released from hospital the day after the accident.

South Derbyshire Coroner Dr Robert Hunter recorded a verdict of accidental death and said:

'Kyle was a young man you can all be very proud of. He has achieved more in his short life than many people of his age ever have.’

Kyle’s commanding officer Major Howard Alcock told the inquest:

'He was a very popular soldier who had lots of friends and his social network centred around the Territorial Army. He has always been very highly regarded – and although he was a very young soldier, he was very professional and carried out his duties to a very high level.’

Kyle’s father Stuart Burton said that it had never ‘crossed his mind’ that his son would die in Burton-on-Trent, having survived two tours of Afghanistan.

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