Friends' shock at M4 crash deaths

James and Bridget Stafford were travelling home after their holiday

A friend of an Irish couple killed in a head-on collision with a car which had been pursued by police has spoken of the shock at their deaths.

James and Bridget Stafford had spent the summer at their holiday home on Achill Island in the Irish Republic.

They were returning home to Surrey when they were killed in the crash on the M4 near Newport early on Monday.

Alan Gielty, who runs a pub where the Staffords stayed, said the village was "devastated" at the couple's deaths.

James Stafford, 69, and his wife Bridget, 70, died at the scene of the crash on the eastbound carriageway of the M4, along with three of four men in the other car.

The second car, a red Ford Mondeo, was travelling west - the opposite direction - on the same carriageway. The crash happened at 0320 BST.

Floral tributes have been laid on a bridge near the crash scene

An 18-year-old man remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital following the fatal collision, which happened minutes after police ended a pursuit of the vehicle.

Gwent Police has handed all the evidence it collected about the incident, including CCTV footage and call logs, to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the crash.

The Staffords were driving home in their Red Volvo 940 after arriving in Wales on the Rosslare to Fishguard ferry.

It has emerged that the couple had said goodbye to friends and neighbours on Achill Island, on the County Mayo coast, the day before.

Mr Gielty said he had gone fishing with Mr Stafford last Wednesday.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales from his premises in Dooagh, he described the Staffords as a "happy-go-lucky" pair.

He said: "The whole village and probably the whole of Achill is devastated. We can't get our heads round it. We're stunned.

He added: "They didn't have any worries. James was retired, he used to come back every summer. He had a beautiful holiday home here in the village.

Christopher Beresford, 18, was one of three men killed in the Mondeo

"He'd launch his boat at the beginning of the summer and every day, or any day that he could, he'd go fishing."

Mr Gielty said he saw images of the crash on television and said an "instinct" told him the one of the cars looked like the Staffords' vehicle.

He added: "James has driven the same car for about 18 years, and it just crossed my mind, but then I just couldn't believe it when a phone call came through to say that it had been them in the accident."

The couple's adult children live in Ireland as well as in the Croydon area of south London.

The three other men who died in the collision have been named as Christopher Beresford, 18, Lee Maggs, 26, who were both from the Duffryn area of Newport, and Sam Case, 19, from the Maindee area of the city.

The only survivor, who has not been named, is in the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.

The IPCC is urging witnesses to the collision to call free phone [phone] or e-mail [e-mail]