A MOTORIST has described the moment he saw an undercover police motorcyclist thrown into the air after colliding with a car “straddling” a Hampshire road.

Anthony Loveridge told the inquest into PC Steve Rawson’s death that the officer had overtaken him seconds before the impact with the silver BMW on Thomas Lewis Way in Southampton.

The motorist, who was driving home with his wife, said that he couldn’t be sure exactly how fast PC Rawson had been going, but that it would have been in excess of 60mph.

As previously reported, 40-year-old PC Rawson was on an undercover operation when he died after colliding with Michal Pliszczynski’s BMW which was exiting Shell petrol station on April 3 last year.

When asked by Southampton and New Forest coroner Grahame Short when he first saw the motorbike, Mr Loveridge said: “The motorcyclist, as it flashed by, was all black, everything was all black as I remember. I don’t recall any lights.”

He added that it gave him no reason to panic and that the manoeuvre seemed “under control” from what he could tell.

He added: “The motorcyclist on impact was hurtled through the air. The car was moved with the impact.”

When asked about the BMW, Mr Loveridge said he first saw it after it had already pulled out of the petrol station but added that its position didn’t cause him any concern.

He said: “There was enough space for me to get past that vehicle waiting to turn right.”

Earlier in the day the jury of six women and five men were taken to the scene of the collision so that they could familiarise themselves with the layout of the road and the position of the petrol station.

The inquest continues.