In the year to September 2003, 31 people were killed in pursuits

Sir Alistair Graham, chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), raised the concerns at the launch of two reports into police pursuits.

Since April last year, 27 people have died in police chases compared with just nine deaths in 1997/98.

Between 2001 and 2003 more than 1% of all traffic deaths in England and Wales involved the police.

Furthermore police vehicles chases resulted in more deaths between 2001 and 2003 than deaths in custody, according to the PCA.

Basic skills

In some of those cases police officers with only basic level driving skills were behind the wheel, despite a policy which requires advanced level training for officers taking part in vehicle chases.

Sir Alistair said: "In my view, still to have the number of fatalities around the 30 mark, which is probably what we are looking at this year, is an unacceptable death toll."

Wrong decisions

The two PCA reports, one called Following Fatal Pursuit and the other called Police Pursuits in Wales, were launched at London's British Academy.

The Fatal Pursuit report said officers did not fully assess the risks involved in chases it investigated and so made wrong decisions.

The PCA is calling for changes across all 43 forces, saying control room staff and not officers in cars should decide tactics during pursuits.

Skills of drivers and control room staff should also be reassessed and forces should bring in outside experts to advise on driving and training, the PCA recommended.