THE waiting is over for relatives who have suffered long delays for the resolution of the deaths of their loved ones.

Inquest dates have been set for the engaged couple who were killed in an horrific car crash near Elvington only days after their relatives told the Evening Press they were angry that seven months had elapsed since the tragedy.

Derek Rawnsley, whose son Nicholas, 31, and Nicholas's fianc Joanne Hunton died in the accident, today welcomed the news but said he will not attend the inquest on June 21.

His wife, Sue, Nicholas's stepmother, spoke on her husband's behalf.

She said: "Derek is pleased that a date has been set and thinks it's a little strange that things have come to a head since the article was in the Evening Press.

"We're relieved in a way that we have got a definite date.

"We don't understand why these things take so long. It's not as if it's a major murder inquiry. A lot of it seems to the lay person quite straightforward, which is why we can't understand why they don't just get it done."

An inquest on Elaine Britton, of Huntington, who died after being in collision with a lorry outside York District Hospital last July, will be heard on June 28, almost a year after her death.

In response to the delay of Mrs Britton's inquest, York coroner Donald Coverdale said: "It's a long time I agree and I don't know off-hand why that one didn't come to the list any earlier."

The most notorious case in recent years was that of Zoe Fairley, the young woman who died after being restrained in a York care hostel.

In April 1997, York council leader Rod Hills spoke of his anger that the authority had no powers to take action against the coroner over what was then a 19-month wait for an inquest. But last week Mr Coverdale defied suggestions he was taking too long to hold inquests saying he had to wait for police reports on accidents and others took time because they required a jury. He told the Evening Press he aims to hold inquests within six months and said: "I do like to pride myself on holding inquests reasonably quickly."