Vehicle was 'blocking' Diana car

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The dark car appeared to form a "compact group" with several motorcyclists following the Princess's vehicle moments before it crashed in the tunnel, a witness said.

Olivier Partouche, who was then working as a chauffeur, was standing on the roadside waiting for a client when he saw the Mercedes travelling at great speed towards the underpass.

In a statement to French police made at the time he estimated it was travelling at 150km/h (93mph).

He said on Wednesday he thought it was slower than this but still "very very fast".

In front of the Mercedes was a car and following it were "a number of motorcycles", he told the jury sitting at the High Court in London by videolink from Paris.

In his first statement to French police, made just two hours after the crash, Mr Partouche recalled that the car was attempting to slow down Diana's vehicle.

"In front of the Mercedes was a car, of which I could not tell you the make," he said. "It was dark in colour and clearly this car was trying to make the Mercedes slow down.

"The Mercedes was black. I think it was an S Class 500. The object of the manoeuvre was to make it possible for the paparazzi to take photographs."

In the same statement he referred to the dark car as "the blocking vehicle" and said the Mercedes had pulled out past it.