Driver killed in head-on crash as two police cars test new speed camera

The police car involved in the accident was being tailed by another, a Volvo, fitted with a VASCAR device, designed to calculate the speed of the vehicle in front.

The Lancashire officers are understood to have been evaluating the device, which the force has not used before.

As the two marked police cars rounded a bend in broad daylight, the lead vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a VW Touran.

The VW's driver, retired academic Peter Williams, 67, suffered severe chest and leg injuries and died in hospital the following day.

His 64-year-old wife Jean suffered multiple fractures and is still in hospital. Her condition is described as comfortable.

The couple had been driving from their home in Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire, to enjoy a weekend break in the Yorkshire Dales.

The driver of the police car involved in the crash, who has been suspended from duty while an independent investigation is carried out, sustained internal bruising and his colleague a broken leg.

Fatal accidents involving police cars are rising at an alarming rate. Forty-eight members of the public died last year - 32 of them in high-speed chases. That compares with nine deaths in 1997, according to figures from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

This latest tragedy happened on the afternoon of Thursday, November 2, on the narrow B6254 between the villages of Arkholme and Over Kellet, near Lancaster. Residents say it is a well-known blackspot where a number of high-speed accidents have occurred.

The rural road has a series of sudden dips which obscure the view of drivers. Yesterday, skid marks were clearly visible at the spot where Mr Williams was fatally injured.

Lancashire Police refused to say why the camera was being tested on an accident-prone minor road rather than a motorway where conditions are safer.

A spokesman for the IPCC, which is investigating the accident, said both police drivers had completed advanced driving courses.

He added: "This was a tragic incident. Our investigation will be thorough and will look to determine exactly what the circumstances were surrounding this collision."

In a statement last night, Mr Williams's sons Brian, a university lecturer, and Geoff, a Methodist minister, said their father would be 'greatly missed'.

They said he had died with his family at his side in the intensive care unit of Lancaster Royal Infirmary, where Mrs Williams was superintendent radiographer until her retirement.

The statement continued: "Peter will be greatly missed by his wife Jean, to whom he had been married for 43 years, and by his sons, his five grandchildren, his extended family and his many friends. He was a kind and generous man with a terrific sense of humour.

"While we are attempting to cope with the loss of Peter, we would also wish to express our concern for the welfare of the police officers involved in the accident.

"We recognise that police driving training on public roads is necessary and can never be entirely risk-free. However, we would hope that the results of the investigation would reduce the likelihood of such an event re-occurring."

Mrs Williams is a prayer leader at Lancaster Free Methodist Church while her son Geoff is minister at a Methodist church in Penwortham, Preston.

Mr Williams was head of Lancaster University's biological sciences workshop before taking early retirement nine years ago.

A neighbour said: "They were a delightful couple. They did everything together and going away to the countryside for a weekend was one of their delights."