The 14-year-olds died in the crash

Darren Franey and Scott Veach, both 14, from Kensington, were in one of the stolen cars and they died instantly after it crashed into the back of a Mercedes truck in March last year.

PC Charlie Ryder told the inquest into their deaths on Tuesday that he did not think it a risk that the stolen vehicles were travelling towards a bus and the lorry which were being directed into position to slow them down.

Darren and Scott were travelling at speeds of up to 100mph through the tunnel.

Earlier their families and the inquest jury revisited the scene of the accident to try to follow the route taken by the boys in the early hours of 2 March last year.

The families wept as they stood at the crash site.

A computer reconstruction of the crash was shown to the jury

Five tunnel officers were suspended after the deaths, but the Crown Prosecution Service has said they will not face criminal charges.

The boys' friend Paul Maguire, 20, was driving the other stolen car, but he escaped uninjured.

On Monday he told the inquest he blamed the police for the accident.

Also on Monday, the jury was shown a computer reconstruction of the moments leading up to the crash in the Kingsway tunnel.

The inquest into the deaths of Darren, from Jubilee Drive and Scott, from Guelph Street, Kensington, in the Kingsway tunnel is expected to last several weeks.