A TUNISIAN holiday ended in tragedy after a North Dorset couple lost their lives in a high-speed road crash, an inquest heard yesterday.

Production engineer Peter James, 63, and his 60-year-old wife Norma from Hazelbury Bryan were passengers in a hire car involved in a collision in the Ben Arous province on March 14, 2008.

Another passenger in the Fiat Punto – author Jacynth Hope-Simpson, 77, from Milborne Port, Sherborne – died from complications at Yeovil hospital on July 3, 2008 after being repatriated.

Her husband, Dermot Hope-Simpson, 90, was behind the wheel of the Punto when it was struck by a BMW being driven by a Tunisian national, a 25-year-old company director later convicted of speeding.

Giving evidence at the Bournemouth inquest, Mr Hope-Simpson recalled how he had met Mr and Mrs James at a hotel and invited them to the Tunis museum.

It was the fourth time he had driven in Tunisia and he was “comfortable” with driving on the right-hand side of the road.

On their way back they decided to stop off for a picnic. Mr Hope-Simpson said: “I planned to cross over the dual carriageway and stopped in the central reservation.

“I thought it was a clear road. Suddenly there was the most appalling screech of brakes. The next thing I knew I was hanging upside down by my safety belt. Our car was split in two. I remember a policeman who spoke English saying: ‘He must have been flying.’”

The inquest heard how the speed limit had been 50km – around 30mph. Mr Hope-Simpson suffered bruising while his wife was seriously injured. Mr and Mrs James died from multiple injuries.

Dorset police forensic collision investigator PC John Hayward said it had been impossible to calculate the speed of either vehicle. A concrete barrier and dips in the road could have obstructed Mr Hope-Simpson’s view.

Recording accidental death verdicts, West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston said: “There are questions that remain unanswered. Unfortunately we’ve had to try to do a jigsaw with some pieces missing.”