POLICE have been refused access to statements made by pilot Andrew Hill in the moments after the Shoreham Airshow crash – but can see cockpit footage.

The High Court handed down the judgment this morning after Sussex Police applied to access records held by the Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) from August 22 last year.

Details experiments and tests carried out in the wake of the incident will also not be disclosed, the AAIB said in a statement today.

A spokesman said: “The AAIB is not able to release protected air accident investigation records of its own accord. Only the High Court can allow for their release. We note today’s judgment and will now release the film footage to the Chief Constable of Sussex Police.”

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Rymarz said: "We are pleased the High Court has granted us access to some of the material we were seeking and this will enable us to move forward with our investigation.

"We understand legally this case is without precedent in England and Wales and we accept the reasons why our request has not been granted in full.

"As we have said before, this is an extraordinarily complex investigation, but we remain committed to finding answers for the families and friends of those who died."