Stuart Andrew Cross was a passenger in the car

An official investigation has been launched into the death of a man during a police chase in Dorset.

Stuart Andrew Cross, from Salisbury, was killed on Friday, when the car he was travelling in hit a pedestrian barrier at high speed in Poole, while it was being pursued by a marked police car.

Another man, Simon Hickton, 21, also from Salisbury, has been charged with a number of serious driving offences.

The Police Complaints Authority has confirmed it will be supervising Dorset Police's handling of the inquiry into the incident.

Our sympathies are with the family of the victim and I can assure them there will be a very thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision Chief Inspector Glen Chalk

A police officer in a Ford Focus car gave chase at 1848 BST, after the officer saw the Orion drive off following a minor collision in Poole town centre.

A police spokesman said the officer started to follow the Orion into Seaview Road where it crashed into a pedestrian barrier.

Mr Cross, who was 24 and from Figheldean, near Salisbury, was a passenger in the car.

The two other occupants fled after being released from the battered vehicle, but were later detained.

One suffered serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

Chief Inspector Glen Chalk, head of Dorset Police's road policing unit, said:

"Our sympathies are with the family of the victim and I can assure them there will be a very thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision."