The family of a taxi driver who drowned after his car skidded off a road is suing the Department of Transport for damages in excess of £90,000.

They are claiming the department was negligent in its maintenance of the stretch of the A65 at Ben Rhydding and was responsible for Mohammed Hussain's car plunging into the River Wharfe.

Father-of-seven Mr Hussain was pulled from his submerged Ford Orion by three firefighters but died shortly afterwards at Airedale General Hospital in Steeton on January 3, 1995.

An inquest was later told that his car had skidded on water, slush and ice because of drainage problems on a notorious stretch of road near Manor Park bends.

Today, his 20-year-old daughter Shazia, of Aireworth Terrace, Keighley, said the family wanted to make sure there were no similar accidents on the stretch of road.

"We just don't want the same thing to happen to another family," she said.

She said her 42-year-old father had worked as a taxi driver for about six years and added: "He used to drive along the road every day and he knew it well. We think if the work had been done properly he would be alive today.

"He was planning to take us to Pakistan for a holiday - he had booked the tickets and everything. "

She said her mother, Maqbool Begum, of Aireworth Terrace, Keighley, was finding it hard to make ends meet. "Two of us have left home and married but it is very difficult for her to get by."

The inquest heard there had been problems with water running on to the road from a nearby field but drainage improvement work was only carried out after the accident.

The inquest also heard that Bradford Council officers had not ordered further gritting of the road despite the freezing conditions.

A night patrol gritter, which may have seen the potential danger, was called away to work elsewhere.

Before recording a verdict of accidental death, the then assistant deputy coroner Roger Whittaker said the problem of water on the road had not been solved at the time of Mr Hussain's death. "As a result, water continued to come on to the road and in the freezing conditions created a system of water, slush and ice.'' he added.

The family's legal representative, Sarah Khan-Bashir, of Bradford-based John Kelly & Co solicitors, said: "A writ has been issued in the High Court in London against the Department of Transport alleging negligence.

"The family has lost a caring and devoted father who was the family's only breadwinner.''

Neither Bradford Council nor the Department of Transport would comment because of the possible legal proceedings.

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