A coroner has called for road safety improvements following the death of popular firefighter Declan Higgins in a car crash.

Mr Higgins, 40, who had been a firefighter at Crawley for 11 years, died when his Ford Escort van careered across the central reservation of the A24 Southwater bypass on February 24.

Mr Higgins' partner, Karen Grice, of New Domewood, Copthorne, said he had complained of heartburn for two years and had recently been taking tablets to deal with the problem.

But Dr Colin Hunter-Craig, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said: "I didn't find anything in his stomach to account for heartburn.People have said they have suffered from heartburn but what they have had is angina."

Mr Craig said Mr Higgins, of The Link, West Green, Crawley, had suffered from hardening of the arteries and a heart attack "sometime in the past".

Michael Yardley, leading firefighter at Crawley, said of Mr Higgins: "He was a well respected colleague in the fire station, he was a very good firefighter and a very good personal friend.

"His fitness was okay until about four years ago when he had another road traffic crash, which I think hospitalised him for about a week.

"From that moment on, you could draw a line to say he wasn't as fit as he used to be. He wasn't unfit. It made him very annoyed that he used to get the pain."

Mr Higgins' van was in collision with a Mercedes van driven by Paul Smith, of Goring Road, Worthing, and a Ford Iveco tipper truck driven by John Pope, of Collyer Avenue, Bognor.

One of the first people on the scene, Citroen driver, Kevin Rees, of Anscombe Road, Worthing, said of Mr Higgins: "He appeared to be breathing. I tried to talk to him, ask him his name and ask if he was all right but there was no sign of consciousness."

PC Michael Scott, of the crash investigation unit at Shoreham, said there was nothing on the road or anything wrong with the van to explain the crash.

At a memorial service for Mr Higgins in February, hundreds of firefighters lined the streets of Crawley as his coffin made its way through the town.

At the inquest in Crawley, West Sussex Coroner Roger Stone said it was clear Mr Higgins had lost control of the vehicle but he could not be sure why.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Stone said he would be contacting highway chiefs to ask if a crash barrier could be put up.

He said: "This is not the first occasion I have dealt with an accident caused by one vehicle crossing over the central reservation on this particular bypass."

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