THE family of a Blackburn man killed in a car crash has held a private meeting with East Lancashire coroner Michael Singleton to express their distress at comments made during an inquest into his death.

Imran Ehsan Aziz, 22, of Randal Street, was killed when the VW Golf in which he was a front seat passenger crashed into a wall on February 20. His widow Naima is expecting their first child any day.

The driver, 19-year-old Ali Hussain, also of Randal Street, also died in the accident at the junction of Shear Bank Road and Preston New Road, Blackburn, during an alleged police chase.

An inquest heard that the driver had sped off after spotting a police car in the early hours and jumped two red lights in Preston New Road.

East Lancashire Coroner Michael Singleton returned a verdict of accidental death on the two men and exonerated the police of blame.

He said had Ali Hussain survived he would have been charged and convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

But the brother of Imran Ehsan Aziz said the coroner's comments had caused distress to the dead men's families.

And he criticised Mr Singleton for appearing to exonerate the police, when an investigation into the matter by the Police Complaints Authority was yet to publish its findings.

Irfan Aziz said: "Mr Singleton invited us to a private meeting, but we left with a lot of questions unanswered. He exonerated the police from any blame, but it is not the purpose of an inquest to establish whether or not the police are to blame. That is the subject of an inquiry yet to publish its findings.

"We feel as if we have been fobbed off and pushed from pillar to post. We are a law-abiding family and have never been through anything like this. His comments have caused us unnecessary distress."

Mr Aziz also said the actions of individual police officers had caused further distress and the crucial question of why the car was being chased by a riot van had not been satisfactorily answered.

The Aziz family is waiting for the results of an investigation by the Police Complaints Authority, due for completion in a couple of weeks, before deciding if they will take any further action.

East Lancashire Coroner Michael Singleton said he did not wish to comment on the matter.

Waseem Mohammed, 19, also of Randal Street, who survived the crash, is still too distressed to comment.