Police are making inquiries to see if there is any connection between a car abandoned after a fatal hit-and-run accident and a man impersonating a jockey.

They now believe the blue Honda Civic -- one of two vehicles which struck 14-year-old Jenny Koester as she got off a school bus on the A417 near Faringdon last Friday -- had been stolen from Wensleydale, in North Yorkshire, five days earlier.

The car was later found abandoned in nearby Stanford in the Vale, where, less than 24 hours earlier, according to yesterday's Racing Post, a stranger called at the home of top jockey Jim Culloty claiming to have run out of petrol, and was given £10 to continue his journey.

The racing paper suggested that from comments he made, he may be the same man believed to have impersonated other well-known jump jockeys around pubs in Wantage and Faringdon.

He is said to be in his mid-30s, clean shaven, wearing a large overcoat and may have a Northern Ireland accent.

A Thames Valley police spokesman said: "We have had reports of a man impersonating jockeys in the Wantage area. We are not linking it to the non-stop accident at this stage, but we can confirm that the Honda Civic involved had been stolen in north Yorkshire and abandoned after the accident in Stanford in the Vale. Enquiries are continuing."