A farmer's reckless driving while attempting to flee police led to a "dangerous pursuit through traffic" resulting in his death, a jury has concluded.

Ian Smith, from March in Cambridgeshire, died in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on May 29 last year. He was 43.

Six days before, he was involved in a crash off the A47 at Little Fransham while attempting to evade police in a high-speed chase which spanned eight miles in just six minutes.

An inquest into his death has now been completed, with a jury giving a narrative conclusion into the circumstances.

It stated: "Ian Smith's death was as a result of a collision following a police pursuit.

"Mr Smith did not stop for police and his driving recklessly led to a dangerous pursuit through traffic."

The court heard the pursuit saw a stinger successfully deployed on Mr Smith's Citroen C3 before another police car pulled ahead of him from a lay-by in an attempt to execute an "enforced stop".

This is a manoeuvre used by police to safely pull over an uncompliant motorist by surrounding their vehicle before using their own to bring all the cars to a stop gradually.

After the unmarked BMW X5 pulled out, it gradually moved towards the middle of the road to prevent an overtake, before steering left to try and block the attempted undertake.

By this stage, Mr Smith was already driving on the grass verge, reaching a speed of 70mph before colliding with the concrete surrounds of an irrigation pipe. 

The jury's conclusion continues: "An unmarked police vehicle without blue lights 'mirroring' his movements led to Mr Smith attempting to undertake by driving onto a grass verge then making contact [with the car] before rapidly decelerating after hitting a concrete bridge."

Mr Smith died six days later due to complications following the injuries he suffered in the crash.