British couple killed by their runaway car

A British couple were crushed to death while trying to stop their car crashing into their house in the south of France.

The vehicle, which had a trailer attached to it, was at the top of a steep slope when the handbrake failed and it began rolling towards the home of Frederick Barrass, 68 , and his wife Jeanette, 67, in the village of Claviers in the Provence region.

The couple stepped into the path of the car to try to stop it but the speed of the vehicle forced them against the wall of the property, killing them.



One of the couple's daughters, who witnessed the accident, tried to treat them, but they were too badly injured.

Police estimate that they would have been crushed by a weight of more than one and a half tons. 'It was a terrible accident,' said one officer. 'When the vehicle lurched forward the couple naturally thought they could do something to stop it.

'Instead it picked up speed and would have created an enormous weight by the time it hit them.'