AN EYNESBURY man was arrested after a body was found in a car in Bedfordshire. Police said a pedestrian out walking on Saturday afternoon found the body of the 29-year-old man from Sandy. He had been sitting in the passenger seat of his vehicle for over

AN EYNESBURY man was arrested after a body was found in a car in Bedfordshire.

Police said a pedestrian out walking on Saturday afternoon found the body of the 29-year-old man from Sandy. He had been sitting in the passenger seat of his vehicle for over 12 hours after it rolled into a ditch at the side of the B1043.

The burgundy M-registered Vauxhall Cavalier was travelling south towards Blunham when for some unknown reason it veered off the road as it neared the A1 and went into a deep ditch.

Police launched a hunt for the driver of the car and a 29-year-old man from Eynesbury was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. He was released on bail pending further inquiries.

Police say the accident happened at 1am on Saturday and the tragedy was not uncovered until 1.47pm when a member of the public was walking near the ditch and raised the alarm.

The dead man was quickly identified and his parents in Sandy informed of the tragedy.

A police spokesman said: "The dead man was still sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle when it was discovered by a member of the public.

"The driver of the vehicle had left the scene following the accident and was later traced to an address in Cambridgeshire and arrested. He has been bailed pending further inquiries and advice from the Crown Prosecution Service."

Police say the two men had been in St Neots on Friday evening and left the town at around 12.30am. They stopped at the 24-hour garage near the railway station in St Neots just before 1am on Saturday morning, before driving along the B1043 Blunham Road at Tempsford.

"It was at the junction where the slip road on to the southbound carriageway of the A1 that the driver lost control and the vehicle plunged over the embankment out of view," said a police spokesman.

Police are now appealing for anyone who might have seen the men at the garage, or driving, or the incident itself. If anyone has information they should contact Pc John Loughlin at the police collision investigation unit in Kempston on 01234 842469.