Man dies in suspected hit-and-run crash

4 hours ago

Neve Gordon-Farleigh

A man in his 50s has died following a multi-vehicle crash on the A120 in Essex.

It happened near Coggeshall, on the Colchester-bound carriageway between West Street and Colne Road, at 07:00 GMT on Saturday.

Although a number of vehicles were at the scene when officers arrived, Essex Police said it was "treating this incident as a fail-to-stop collision".

"As part of that investigation, we're exploring whether a white van found with significant fire damage in a layby on the Braintree-bound carriageway close to Watery Lane, before Bradwell, is involved," a spokesperson said.

The family of the man have been informed and are being supported by officers.

Police said before the crash, they received a call at 06:50, which reported that a man who appeared vulnerable with grey hair and wearing dark clothing was walking alone on the A120 towards Colchester.

Officers said "this description matches that of the man" who died.

The force said it would like to hear from anyone driving on the A120 between Bradwell, Coggeshall and Colchester between 06:30 and 07:10 who may have seen the man or anyone who may have witnessed the van being set alight.

Insp James Freeman, said: "We have been working throughout the day to build a picture of what happened on the A120 this morning, and I'm asking anyone with information on either the man seen walking or the white van which was fire-damaged to please come forward.

"You may have dashcam footage which you haven't yet checked because you weren't aware of the situation; I would urge you, please do check it.

Your information may be crucial to our investigation."

According to the traffic monitoring service Inrix, the road was reopened[1] at about 17:25 on Saturday.

References

1. ^ road was reopened (www.bbc.co.uk)