Police are lodging an appeal against a judgement that blamed them for a crash in which a patrol car killed a woman.

A judge in a civil trial had concluded that Kent Police were totally to blame for the accident that killed 29-year-old Rachel Cheesewright in Bethersden.

Now the force contesting that in a hearing at London’s Court of Appeal in April.

Family solicitor Sarah Harman told the Kentish Express: “We’re very disappointed that the police wont accept the judge’s carefully reasoned decision.

“It has been an incredibly difficult experience for the family. The judgement was some sort of closure but now they have to go on suffering.”

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

An inquest jury in January 2008 returned an accidental death verdict but, following a civil action by the family, Judge Jonathan Simpkiss in September gave his verdict.

He told Canterbury County Court that the accident was “entirely the police’s fault.”

He added: “I find that Kent Police were negligent and that the police driver was the 100 per cent causation of the accident.”

Kent Police fought on in an application to the Court of Appeal and the hearing is now set for April 22 and 23.

The family’s solicitors, Harman and Harman of Canterbury, understand that the force is appealing on a number of points.

Their main contention is that the judge relied too much on calculations of times, distances and speed in the accident and not enough on the evidence of the police driver, PC William Purse, and his colleague PC Stephen Wade.

They also argue he relied too much on the inexpert evidence of independent witness, motorist Isabel Haywood.

Kent Police said they had no comment until the case was heard.