AN investigation has been launched into the death of the man who died at Strensham services following a police chase.

The incident took place on the M5 overnight on Saturday, April 23 into Sunday, April 24, at around midnight.

The driver of a Nissan Micra failed to stop for Gloucestershire police, after officers spotted him driving suspiciously on the motorway.

A short police pursuit took place and when the vehicle got to Junction 8, the exit for Strensham Services, the vehicle collided into a ditch.

Paramedics arrived to save the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The incident was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), and Central Motorway Police Group are also investigating.

A spokesman for the IPCC said: "The IPCC has launched an independent investigation into the circumstances of a fatal road traffic incident near the Strensham Services on the M5.

"The investigation is in its early stages."

• The College of Policing website has a section dedicated to police pursuits, and states "officers need to decide whether a pursuit is justified, proportionate and conforms to the principal of least intrusion".

The guidance says officers should seek authorisation for a decision to engage in a pursuit from control room staff.

The driver or control room staff are the ones who make a call on whether to call off a pursuit, something that must be done if "the risk becomes disproportionate to the reasons for undertaking it, or where no tactics are available."

The website guidance says an investigation launched after a death following a police pursuit will attempt to establish why the pursuit was undertaken, what the objective of the pursuit was, the options available during the pursuit and the decisions reached.