A drink driver almost four times the legal limit crashed his car and died in a high-speed police chase, writes Emma Henry.

An inquest heard that Andrew Williams's Ford Granada reached speeds of up to 100mph on narrow country roads as he tried to escape.

Police took up the pursuit after a motorist saw Mr Williams driving erratically and told them he appeared to be drunk.

Officers followed and stopped the car. But as they approached Mr Williams, he sped off and finally lost control, ploughing through hedges into a field. Consultant pathologist Dr David Davies told the hearing in Oxford that Mr Williams died from multiple injuries. Tests revealed his alcohol level and it appeared he had not been wearing a seat belt, Dr Davies said.

Richard Costar, of Columbia Way, Grove, said he saw Mr Williams driving erratically in the village just after midnight on June 14 last year and called police on his mobile phone. He was told to follow the car, keeping in touch with police until officers arrived. A police car driven by Pc Darren Price caught up with Mr Williams minutes later and made him pull over. But as Pc Price and his passenger Sgt Graham Dix got out of their car, Mr Williams sped off.

The crash happened on the East Hanney-Steventon road while Mr Williams, 36, of Haydon Wick, Swindon, was briefly out of the officers' sight.

Pc Price told the inquest: "We were travelling about 80mph and he was maintaining higher speeds than that. He kept hitting verges on both sides of the road." The coroner's jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Williams's sister Carol, from Bristol, said: "I think the police were a bit heavy-handed using a member of the public to keep in contact with them. I don't understand why they did that. You don't use a member of the public to pursue people."

A police spokesman said today: "If a person chooses to drink and drive, they have to be prepared to suffer the consequences of their actions." He said it was unusual to use a member of the public in this way, but it was done because other people were deemed to be at risk, and it made it easier for police to locate the car.