A POLICE officer travelling in a car that was doing 130 miles per hour before it hit the side of a crashed car on the M20 has spoken of a mysterious yellow bag he saw just seconds before impact.

Former PC Frank Clark, now retired, was on night duty with Kent Police's traffic division more than a year ago when four cars are believed to have been involved in a fatal collision.

The smash occurred on an unlit section of the M20 London-bound between junction four for Leybourne and junction three for the M26 and Wrotham at around 10.30pm on Monday, December 15, 2003.

Jimmy Atirene, 33, from Orpington, and Ricci Parker and Kevin Wratten, both 19 and from Snodland, were all pronounced dead at the scene.

Opening the week-long inquest at Maidstone's County Hall on Monday, coroner for Mid-Kent and Medway Roger Sykes told a jury that a Vauxhall Cavalier, containing Mr Parker and Mr Wratten, appears to have hit a lorry before crashing into the central reservation.

He explained that a motorcycle, ridden by Mr Atirene, a white Astra van and a police car seem to have hit the crashed car. The police car was travelling at speed on its way to help officers chasing a suspected stolen car.

At Wednesday's hearing, retired traffic officer Mr Clark explained that he had started his shift at 10pm.

After a 15-minute briefing at Coldharbour he and his partner PC Glyn Walker heard of a pursuit in the Wrotham area and went out in their marked Volvo to assist, he said.

He told the jury that they gathered some equipment and headed along the M20 in the outside lane, with flashing blue lights and alternating headlights.

Mr Clark said PC Walker drove at 130 miles per hour, which is well within the car's capabilities, slowing down when asked in case they had to come off at junction four but then speeding up again.

Mr Clark said he heard over the radio that the pursuit was heading towards Nepicar, and shouted at PC Walker to "commit to" the M26.

He said: "My view was that between us and that slip the road was clear. Seconds later at most I saw something. I saw in lane three something yellow, bright yellow, something flowing, no straight lines. Here we are talking a fraction of a second.

"I decided it was a plastic bag and unlikely to case me any harm. Immediately after that the bonnet came through the windscreen."

When asked if the yellow object could have been a rucksack, like one used by victim Mr Atirene, Mr Clark admitted that it was possible.

PC Walker said: "I considered that the speed we were travelling was adequate and reasonable and within the safety margins of both myself and PC Clark. At that time and with the amount of traffic travelling on the road I felt confident travelling at 130 mph."

Moments before the crash, PC Walker says he remembers seeing a haze in the air.

"I considered this was out of place and did consider that I should attempt to stop and that is all that I remember. I don't know if I started braking before the crash," he said.

Raymond Moore, who was driving a white Astra van London-bound, said he was travelling along the outside lane at 70 to 80 miles per hour when he suddenly saw something quite large in front of him. He said his initial reaction was to brake, and brace himself for impact.

He said the object did not look like a car on four wheels, but could have been a car on its side, and he felt only a single impact.

He said: "I stayed in the vehicle until I got myself back together. It seems like seconds but I am not 100 per cent sure. All I could see was wreckage over the central reservation. There was something in front of me that looked like part of a car. I found out later it was a motorbike."

Mr Moore did not remember seeing a police car until after the crash.

The inquest continues.