A CIVILIAN police worker failed to report flooding on a road near Winchester where hours later a policeman died in a car crash, an inquiry has found.

An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission following the death of PC James Drew found that the member of police staff should have reported the water on the A31 to Hampshire County Council.

However the "errors in judgement" were found not to be "malicious" and Hampshire Constabulary has been advised to deal with this failure by giving the employee "words of advice".

Police chiefs have also been recommended to review their procedures when dealing with road flooding.

Five hours before PC Drew's crash in January, Hampshire Police were called at midnight by a member of the public who had lost control of his car on Alresford Road, near Morn Hill.

The IPCC investigation focused on the actions of two members of staff working on the motorway desk that night, an officer and member of police staff, who dealt with the call.

The officer requested a police unit to go to the scene but this was later cancelled on the say so of his colleague, who was expected to report the flooding to the local authority.

Mike Franklin, IPCC commissioner for the south east, concluded that the police officer on duty had not breached the standards of professional behaviour and that "he had not failed to carry out his duties and responsibilities".

However the investigation found that his colleague had "failed in his duty, in so far as he did not notify the local authority of the flood on the A31".

Mr Franklin added: "He [member of police staff] should also have allowed the police unit to attend the scene in view of the possibility of debris on the road."

Hampshire Police has now been asked to consider if its guidance and practice for dealing with road floods is sufficient to deal with various situations which may arise.

Hundreds of friends, family and uniformed police officers attended the funeral of PC Drew, who grew up and lived in Chandler's Ford.

An inquest into the crash, which happened as the 27-year-old was driving to work at Alton police station, delivered a verdict of accidental death.

His family has always made it clear that they do not want blame to be placed on any individual for errors made prior to PC Drew's accident.

They declined to comment on the investigation report.