SCRAPYARD'S GRIM SECRET

THESE two rusting containers dumped in an anonymous police car pound hold the key to the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.

Inside lies the crumpled wreckage of the pounds 60,000 Mercedes S280 which chauffeur Henri Paul ploughed into a concrete pillar at 80mph, killing Diana, Dodi and himself.

For almost six years the whereabouts of the VIP limousine - and the answers to why and how the couple died - have remained a mystery.

But after an exhaustive investigation The Sunday Mirror has tracked down the car's remains to a desolate vehicle graveyard in a grey Paris suburb.

Once, the gleaming limousine whisked a princess and her lover through the boulevards of the French capital.

Now, sawn in two, its final resting place is this pair of battered green containers at a police compound used to store stolen cars and insurance write-offs.

The Sunday Mirror can also reveal that pounds 1million has been secretly ear-marked for an inquest into the deaths of Dodi and Diana - and the wreckage may soon be shipped to Britain as vital evidence.

Surrey County Council has set aside money after its coroner Michael Burgess took over the role of investigating suspicious deaths in the Royal Household and signalled that he may press ahead with the sensitive inquest.

If it goes ahead, as expected early next year, the car will be brought to Britain and subjected to independent tests to determine exactly what happened in the last moments before the fatal crash.

Last night Dodi's father, Harrods owner, Mohammed Al Fayed said he would welcome the opportunity for the car to be examined in Britain.

As well as the possibility of an inquest, Mr Al Fayed has called for a public inquiry in Britain.

"The remains of the vehicle have been protected by a court order and should be examined by British police vehicle examiners," said Mr Al Fayed's spokesman.

"They are the best in the world and certainly better than the French. It will mean we can find out for certain what happened.

"It should resolve once and for all two key issues - whether the speedo was jammed and whether there was a collision with another car. We have always maintained, backed by Mercedes, that the speedo reverted to zero on impact and do not believe the reports that it was jammed at high speed. We have scientific tests which we believe match paint scrapings on the Mercedes with those of a white Fiat Uno. We would welcome the opportunity for further tests to be done."

The polished black limousine was the pride of the luxury chauffeur- driven fleet at the Al Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel in Paris, where Diana and Dodi dined on the night of their deaths.

The car - registration 680 LTV75 - was hacked into two sections during tests by French police and has now been placed in the containers in the run-down suburb.

Each metal crate is secured with a padlock and a judicial seal that can be removed only on the orders of a judge. Until now, not even workers in the scrap yard next to the police pound knew the secret of what was in the green boxes. They were delivered by a police transporter four months ago, already sealed, then winched by crane on top of other crates.

The only time the smashed car was seen by the public was on August 31, 1997 when it was removed from the Pont d'Alma tunnel where it crashed, loaded on to a lorry and driven away under a tarpaulin to a police garage in central Paris.

One week later it was taken to the forensics laboratory in nearby Rosny-sous-Bois for repeated tests. The car remained at Rosny-sous- Bois until March this year, when police guarding it were finally given permission to move it to a secure pound.

Instructions handed to police read: "Place the car in an anonymous location where it will not attract attention."

Police chief Captain Frederick Pechenar, head of Paris Crime Brigade, revealed yesterday: "After the crash, the Mercedes was first kept at a secure underground police garage in Paris, where it underwent initial inspection.

"A week later, it was moved to the police forensics laboratory at Rosny-sous Bois. Here the car underwent extensive examination to help us uncover any clues to what might have contributed to the crash.

"The car was finally moved to its present location at the police car pound four months ago. It was cut in two during examination of the wreckage and is in two pieces, in two separate green metal containers, each secured with an official seal which can only be broken with the permission of a judge.

"Naturally all personal effects of all those in the car on the night of the crash have been removed, but everything that remained of the vehicle after the accident has been preserved.

"Parts of the car which were removed during forensic tests are in plastic bags in the containers. Under French law, the car is technically no longer evidence and could be disposed of, but this is a special case.

"Although the investigation is over - which would normally entitle us to pass the vehicle on for scrap - we can not destroy this wreckage due to the sensitive nature of the tragedy. But we have no use for it either.

"It is in a judicial pound used to store contraband or seized goods, and is mostly full of stolen cars and motorbikes and illegal fruit machines. There are no plans to move the car on from here. This is where it shall now remain until a judge rules otherwise."

Scrap yard worker Thierry Rondeau witnessed the two containers being delivered in March.

He recalled how police told him at the time the crates contained "just another wreck" that might be needed in evidence later on.

He said: "We see this kind of thing all the time at the police pound. Thepolice driver told me it was just another wrecked car and I thought nothing more about it. I was stunned to hear those crates contained Lady Di's Mercedes. It's a very spooky feeling. "Now we know what's in them we can't get it out of our minds. "Every time we look at them, it's an uncomfortable reminder that we're sitting right next to the most famous wrecked car in history." Experts from the Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale (I.R.C.G.N.) concluded the car had low mileage and had been in perfect mechanical and working order. Additional research later found traces of paint on the front right wing which forensic scientists identified as from a white Fiat Uno which could have collided with the Mercedes - but despite a massive hunt, the Fiat was never found. Judge Herve Stephan, who headed the crash investigation, ruled that high speed and drunk driving by chauffeur Henri Paul was to blame. Only Welsh-born bodyguard Trevor Rees Jones survived. Judge Stephan's final crash report told how Diana had been in the rear left hand seat behind driver Paul, with Dodi - referred to by his real name of Emad Al Fayed.

The report noted: "The vehicle was badly damaged and had come to rest against the outer wall of the tunnel, facing in the opposite direction to the normal flow of traffic.

"Four people were found inside the vehicle.

"Lady Diana Spencer was still conscious and crouched on the floor of the vehicle with her back to the road.

"At her side, stretched out on the rear seat, was Emad Al Fayed, who had been sitting in the rear left passenger seat and appeared dead.

"In the front of the vehicle was the driver Henri Paul, the deputy security manager at the Ritz hotel, who had been killed immediately and was declared dead on removal from the wreckage.

"The front passenger was Trevor Rees Jones who was conscious and had suffered serious multiple injuries to the face.

"The two forward passengers' airbags had functioned normally.

"The injuries suffered by three of the passengers were frequently observed in severe crash cases, head-on with extreme deceleration, while those to Lady Diana Spencer were more unusual and could probably be explained by the victim's sideways position at the moment of impact."

Last night coroner Michael Burgess said: "There has been no definite decision as yet about whether or not an inquest will be held.

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