A57 fatal crash police car 'lost control at 100mph'

PC Dave Fields died in the crash on the A57 on Christmas Day 2017

A police car was being driven at more than 100mph when it lost control and collided with another vehicle, leaving two people dead, an inquest has heard.

PC Dave Fields and Lorraine Stephenson died in the crash on the A57 in Sheffield on Christmas Day 2017.

A coroner said the patrol car driven by PC Fields, 45, was going "quite rapidly" to a 999 call on blue lights.

Mrs Stephenson, 61, was the front seat passenger in a car driven by her husband.

The inquest at Sheffield's Medico-Legal Centre heard the police car's data recorder said it was travelling at 103mph just before it "lost control".

Coroner Chris Dorries said witnesses had reported heavy rain in the area in the hour or so before the crash at about 20:20 GMT.

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Lorraine Stephenson was a passenger in a car being driven by her husband

He told an inquest jury PC Fields' car spun in the road and its rear "collided with the front passenger side of Mr Stephenson's car".

Mr Dorries said: "The BMW, for whatever reason, rotated, losing control, and rotated so its rear was now leading."

The coroner said the inquest would consider whether the police car had aquaplaned immediately before the collision.

The jury was told aquaplaning happens when a layer of water develops between a tyre and the road surface.

PC Fields was responding to reports of a group of men fighting, but the first officer at the reported scene found nothing and the incident was stood down.

The inquest continues.