The family of a young mother killed by a police car face an anxious wait for a judges’ verdict over the case.

Kent Police had appealed against a county court’s damning of the force over the crash that killed former Shepherd Neame tour guide Rachel Cheesewright.

The hearing took place in the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday and relatives, including parents Tony and Marsha Cheesewright, who ran Ospringe Post office, now have weeks of waiting for the judgement.

Peter Cutler, of the family solicitors Harman and Harman in Canterbury, said: "The family feels this has dragged on for a long time and they want the whole issue resolved.

"However there are now weeks of waiting for the judgement, at a conservative estimate that could be four to six weeks."

Miss Cheesewright, 29, of Guernsey Way, Kennington, died after a police car answering a 999 call smashed into her Ford Fiesta on the A28 at Bethersden in October, 2005.

She left a daughter, Charlotte, who was eight at the time.

An inquest jury in Janaury, 2008, returned a verdict of accidental death.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission and Crown Prosecution Service had also concluded that PC William Purse was not at fault

But last September, after a civil trial, Judge Jonathan Simpkiss at Canterbury Crown Court, ruled that Kent Police were negligent and that PC Purse was the "100 per cent causation of the accident."

The force appealed against that ruling and the three-hour hearing was presided over by Lady Justice Arden, Lord Justice Stanley Brunton and Mr Justice Richards.

Kent Police declined to comment on the hearing.