The boys were "spooked" into driving fast

Darren Franey and Scott Veach were killed when their car crashed into the back of a lorry at the Wallasey exit of the Mersey Tunnel following a high speed police chase.

They had been travelling at more than 100 mph in a car stolen from Chester, driven by Darren Franey.

An officer from the Mersey Tunnel police force told an inquest into their deaths on Friday that he thought officers from the Merseyside Police force were partly responsible.

PC Malcolm Scawn was the driver of one of two tunnel police cars parked at the Liverpool exit of the Wallasey tunnel.

No road block

He blamed a patrol car which had been following them for "spooking them into driving fast".

Earlier he had told the inquest he had stopped at the tunnel mouth to stop and arrest the drivers of the two stolen cars.

He said a road block had not been set up and insisted there was ample time for oncoming vehicles to stop and drive around the police cars.

But he said he and colleagues were not told the stolen cars were travelling at more than 100 mph and would have let the cars pass through unhindered if they had known.