IN the wake of the inquest that recorded verdicts of accidental death for the victims of the M25 coach crash, one of the family firm's members said she was still haunted by "if onlys" surrounding the tragedy.

Pam Spring, who ran WR Spring with her brother, Graham - one of those who died in the accident last November - said last week's inquest brought back upsetting memories.

"It was very distressing because, obviously, the inquest brought out the injuries," she explained.

"We knew how Graham had died and we knew how Chris had died." She added: "Until the inquest, I didn't know how the other people had been killed."

She said there were still unanswered questions about events on the fateful night but some of the items that could shed light on them had not been retrieved following the crash.

"The operators' licence was missing; it was never recovered," said Pam, "although they found the road tax disc. All the paperwork, the logbook - nothing of that was found."

The actions of Graham Spring, who was sharing the driving on the day trip with Chris Sloane, who was behind the steering wheel when the coach veered off the motorway and rolled down an embankment, were criticised in expert evidence presented to the inquest.

Pam said: "I can't comment on the drivers' actions; only they could have done so, but they can't because they're not here to defend themselves."

She went on: "We, as the company, and Chris Sloane did not intentionally set out to break any actual driving duties, otherwise Chris would have been behind the wheel at the start of the journey, which he was not.

"This was confirmed by the witnesses at the inquest. That is the reason why Chris was not allowed to drive by Graham until the return journey.

"The passengers confirmed that he took over as the driver between 6pm and 6.30pm on that fateful night. Taking into account the time on the ferry crossing, he had, in fact, only been driving for approximately three hours."

Among the "if onlys" that had gone through her mind was the thought that passengers might have been able to avert the tragedy if they had alerted Mr Spring or Mr Sloane.

"Perhaps they could have tapped Graham and said, 'look, Graham', there's something not right here."

"I don't blame them," she stressed, "I feel that they could have told Graham but I don't blame them at all.

"If I had been on there as a passenger and could have seen someone nodding off I would have done something about it."

Pam said her father, Ron, had found an "inner strength" in dealing with the loss of his son and the end of the business he had started 50 years ago.

"I, personally, don't think he will ever come to terms with it but my father is a very strong brave man. He has dealt with it very well, bearing in mind last year he suffered a stroke.

"He seems to have found an inner strength."