FORMER Minehead police inspector Keith Bridges has told a French court that his thoughts were "always" with his family and friends who were killed when he lost control of his car and crashed following a heavy drinking session.

The 52-year-old's wife Julie-Ann, ten-year-old stepdaughter Bethany Lowe, friend Andrew Dyer and his daughter Gabriella, also ten, died in the horrific accident which happened in June 2006 just 100 metres or so from the Bridges' home in Berbiguieres, Dordogne.

Mr Dyer's wife Tracey was seriously injured and spent weeks in hospital and the couple's other children, Charlotte, then seven, and Keiran, four survived.

Bridges appeared before a panel of judges at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Bergerac on Tuesday to face manslaughter, drink-driving and speeding charges.

An inquest in Taunton earlier this month heard that Bridges, who retired from the Avon and Somerset force and moved to France less than a year before the accident, was three times over the French drink-drive limit and almost twice the legal level allowed in Britain.

The inquest also concluded that he had been driving too fast and that if all eight people "crammed" into the automatic 4x4 Cherokee jeep had been correctly seated - only five were wearing seatbelts - the fatalities may not have happened.

Bridges, who suffered a broken leg and a hand injury in the accident, maintained a defect in the design of the vehicle caused the excessive speed but this claim was rejected by the jurors at the inquest as unlikely.

Investigations by the French police also failed to find any mechanical failings.

He told the court that in hindsight there may have been something he could have done to avoid the crash.

"Every day I try and find out what happened on that night," said Bridges.

"My thoughts are always with the family and my friends who have had to suffer as a result of this."

The crash happened after the Bridges and Dyer family - who were on holiday from Bridgwater - spent the evening at the home of Tony and Jenny Fuller, neighbours in the tight-knit English community living in Berbiguieres.

The adults shared between three and four bottles of wine, cocktails which had been made with a bottle of spirits and 22 small bottles of beer.

The Fullers had made it clear they did not think anyone should have driven that night and the two ten-year-olds who died even suggested they should drive home, one steering and the other pressing the pedals.

They were in the boot of the jeep where there were no seatbelts when the accident happened.

Bridges, who had 30 years' experience as a police officer, lost control of the jeep as he attempted to negotiate a bend and ploughed into three trees.

His speed was estimated at about 60mph - between 18 and 25 miles above what was considered a safe speed.

Jean-Luc Gadaud, prosecuting, said on Tuesday: "This was the act of a man who shouldn't have done what he did."

Bridges, described as a talented driver, had during his career been part of a special police unit which transported VIPs, such as the royal family,

But he told the court he could not explain why he had overloaded his car.

"It was a decision that was made on the night - as far as carrying all the passengers was concerned," he said.

"We were having a convivial evening. I accept I should not have drunk any alcohol at all."

But he said he was surprised by the amount of alcohol found after he was tested following the accident.

"I felt completely in control of the vehicle. I did not feel I had had too much to drink. If I had I would not have proposed I drove."

Mr Gadaud called for a four-year suspended sentence and for Bridges to be banned from driving for seven years.

Judges are due to return a verdict on December 15.