AN EYNESBURY pensioner was killed after apparently trying to do a u-turn on the A14, an inquest has heard.

Eighty-year-old Peter Lock died instantly when his Vauxhall Astra was hit by a lorry and a BMW at junction 31 on the westbound carriageway, where the busy commuter route merges with the northbound M11.

A post mortem carried out at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge confirmed he died from multiple injuries.

Coroner Sam Bass, sitting at Lawrence Court in Huntingdon on Thursday (October 11), heard that Mr Lock was trying to get to a hospital appointment in Cambridge on April 24. He had attempted to reach the BUPA hospital the day before but got lost and headed home.

Pc Tim Kirkby, from Cambridgeshire police’s road traffic collisions investigation unit, told Dr Bass that there were no deficiencies with any of the vehicles involved that could have caused the accident.

He added: “There was no evidence to suggest the lorry or the BMW were driven in anything other than a correct and proper manner.”

He explained that the police’s automatic number plate recognition cameras had recorded Mr Lock’s whereabouts as he drove into Cambridge, then turned around and headed into Madingley.

He joined the A14 from The Avenue, a minor road from Madingley, indicating right. He turned across chevrons on the road, so that his car was at 90 degrees to the traffic, directly into the path of the lorry. The lorry hit Mr Lock’s Astra, sending it spinning anti-clockwise into the path of the BMW. The impact with that vehicle sent Mr Lock’s car spinning in the other direction and into the central barrier.

Pc Kirkby said Mr Lock’s car crossed a solid white line, which is prohibited, and added: “He may have been attempting a u-turn, unaware that he was entering the M11.”

After hearing the evidence, Dr Bass said: “We will never know what happened to Mr Lock or what he was thinking. It appears, from the evidence we have heard, that it’s likely he was lost on what is quite a difficult part of the road network in Cambridgeshire, especially if you are unfamiliar with it.

“We know he was trying to get to a hospital appointment and I have a statement that says he tried to get there the day before and got lost the day before as well.

“What made him turn like that we will never know.”

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.