AN elderly Dorset couple came within three feet of crazed taxi driver Derrick Bird as he neared the end of his killing spree in Cumbria.

Reginald and Kathleen Miller, of West Moors, were strolling along a country lane near the village of Boot when they heard the Citroen Picasso cab approaching from behind.

“He slowed down as he got to us. I thought he was going to ask the way to somewhere,” said retired shipping manager Mr Miller, 87.

“I saw this thing pointing through the window. I thought he had a fishing rod. He looked at me, I looked at him, but he didn’t stop. I didn’t give it too much thought, although it was a bit odd.”

Mr and Mrs Miller, who were on a five-day coach holiday, continued to an old water mill, where they sat down for a while before rejoining the rest of their party at the rail head, where they were due to reboard the Ravenglass narrow gauge railway.

Unkown to them, Bird continued into the village of Boot, shooting another woman before crashing his car on the bridge over the river Esk at Cockley Beck. He went into nearby woods, where he turned the gun on himself.

“As we started to come back, this woman started chasing us,” said Mr Miller. “She wanted us to take cover in her restaurant. We weren’t aware of what was happening. We said we had to go back to our party.”

“When we got there, there wasn’t a soul about: they were all inside this gift shop and restaurant. There were helicop-ters overhead and about five police cars. We heard then what was happening. Because I spoke to somebody there, they told one of the police officers and this armed policeman took a statement from me. He said: ‘You’ve been very lucky’.”

Mr Miller said another woman had also had a similar experience as Bird drove through with one hand on the wheel of his car and the other clutching his gun. “She was very upset. She was in tears.

“Other people were more shaken up than I was. There were a lot of children there.”

Mr Miller, who served in the Royal Navy during The Second World war, said: “He must have shot that lady [in Boot] while we were walking to the water mill. There but for the grace of God go I.

“I can’t say I feel relieved, but I’m glad it wasn’t us. I’m not ready to go yet.”

Mr and Mrs Miller, who have been married for 63 years, have three children.