Fatal Great Missenden crash 'due to PCs not closing road'

The crash happened on the A413 in Buckinghamshire

Three police officers should have closed an icy road an hour before a fatal crash, an inquest jury has found.

Carl Bird, 29, and Malcolm Tindall, 64, were killed in the accident at about 05:54 GMT on 4 March 2014.

Their cars collided on a patch of ice on the A413 near Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire at the same place a car had crashed about an hour earlier.

Officers attending the earlier crash should have had gritters sent, a jury at Beaconsfield Coroner's Court added.

The inquest jury said signs should have been left out and an investigation into the water leak on the road should have been carried out.

Martin Kendall telephoned Thames Valley Police at 04:52 to report he had crashed his car into a ditch on the A413 between Wendover and Great Missenden.

PCs David Stamp, Hugh Flanagan and Caroline Irwin attended the scene.

Coroner Crispin Butler told the jury Mr Kendall knew his crash was caused by ice because he had been a gritter driver for 10 years.

Mr Kendall said he could not see evidence of grit on the road, but Buckinghamshire County Council said the gritting route was followed, the jury heard.

The police officers told the court they did not examine the scene, it did not occur to them to look for ice and they felt they had dealt with the accident adequately.

Mr Butler said he will write to the Thames Valley Police chief constable and to the three officers to highlight his concerns.

The officers were disciplined for their actions at a misconduct hearing in March.