A POOLE widow whose husband was killed in a high-speed crash has launched a bid for compensation that could run into millions.

Carolyn Corr, of Creekmoor, lost husband Liam in a seven-car pile-up on the A36 in Wiltshire in April 2007. Mr Corr, 50, became the victim of a reckless 80mph race between drivers Peter Bowyer and Graham Hooper.

The pair overtook each other as they sped bumper to bumper along the A36 and A350 for five miles.

Mr Hooper, 50, from Merley, was also killed in the crash, while Bowyer was jailed for causing death by dangerous driving in 2008.

Mrs Corr has now issued a writ against Mr Hooper’s wife, Jacqueline, demanding unlimited damages of more than £300,000.

A procedural judge has been assigned to oversee the initial stages of the action, but a date is yet to be set for hearing the claim.

During Bowyer’s trial at Salisbury Crown Court, a jury was told how the two drivers had been involved in a “sustained episode of dangerous and competitive driving”.

Both Mr Corr, described by police as “a completely innocent party”, and Mr Hooper died at the scene of the crash, near Warminster, while three other people were injured.

Bowyer, then 25, from Trowbridge, was jailed for six and a half years and banned from driving for seven years.

The driving ban was subsequently reduced to five years on appeal last year.

Mrs Corr has brought the claim under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934 and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.