Two pensioners died in a road accident after police closed off part of a dual carriageway to deal with an earlier crash, an inquest heard.

Dennis Riley, 81, and Patricia Orange, 74, were seriously injured when a minibus they were travelling in was involved in a pile-up on the A46, near Melton Mowbray.

A police officer, who had been dealing with the earlier crash, told yesterday's inquest that she did not feel she had had enough training to deal with the situation.

Mr Riley, of Halifax, died at the scene on August 14, 2007, and Ms Orange, of Harrogate, died 10 days later in hospital.

Pathologist, Professor Guy Rutty, said the minibus they were in had collided with a coach. The latter had hit a van which had slowed when the driver saw a police car blocking the lane of traffic ahead.

The hearing at Loughborough Town Hall was adjourned after the coroner heard evidence from Pc Laura Payne, who had put the car in the road to deal with an earlier accident.

Pc Payne was a police community support officer at the time. She was attending the scene after a Porsche Boxster had swerved off the road in heavy rain.

One lane of the dual carriageway had been closed so that a recovery vehicle could get to it.

She told the hearing she had put her police car in a "fend-off" position to warn other drivers of the incident, but had not used the cones and signs available.

When asked why by coroner Olivia Davison, Pc Payne said: "I personally did not feel safe getting out of the vehicle on that road."

Ms Davison asked the officer about her road-accident training and was told she had attended a one-day traffic course as part of her six-week community support officer training. Ms Davison asked if Pc Payne felt she had been properly trained for the situation.

She replied: "To deal with a road traffic collision on an A road, a normal road, yes. To deal with road traffic accident on a dual carriageway? No."

Pc Payne said she called for assistance from other officers only after the second crash.

After hearing Pc Payne's evidence, Ms Davison adjourned the inquest to a later date.

She said: "The evidence I have heard this morning raises extremely important issues that affect the question I must answer – that is: How the deaths occurred."