A Sunday Times investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder of David Addison, 46, has confirmed that a “location and rescue operation” was staged after he was seized, apparently by Taliban rebels, in western Afghanistan on August 31.

Although there are conflicting accounts of what then happened, the Wiltshire coroner investigating the case confirmed last week that Addison’s head was almost completely severed. His body was found on September 3. His funeral will be held on Wednesday.

Addison, from Warminster, Wiltshire, had gone to work in Afghanistan less than two months earlier to finance IVF treatment for his wife, Karen, with whom he already had a 20-month old daughter. He was attacked at a junction in Farah province as he travelled in a convoy along the Kandahar to Herat road.

A gun battle followed in which three policemen were killed. Addison was kidnapped along with his interpreter, whose fate is not known.

Izatullah Wasifi, the governor of Farah province, said a group of 70 Afghan elders had been sent to talk to the Taliban rebels holding the Briton. The elders, who were given a camera to take photographs to prove he was still alive, were told to withdraw, however, when coalition troops arrived with air support.

“We had the area surrounded,” Wasifi said. “If the Americans hadn’t interfered, we could have saved his life.”

A senior coalition military official in Afghanistan strongly denied the accusation, insisting no formal rescue operation had been mounted.

“It never reached the point that it could be bungled,” the official said. “The work that was done was as professional as I’ve ever seen in 25 years of involvement in such things. Anyone that is suggesting it was a bungled operation is completely wrong.”

Maurice Lound, the coroner investigating the case, said it was difficult to determine the precise sequence of events. “Whether he died while the rescue attempt was being undertaken is unknown and probably will be unless someone says they saw him being killed,” he said.

A question also remains over the role, if any, of British forces. Colin Ball, a British spokesman in Kabul, confirmed that a team had been sent from the embassy to Farah province after Addison was kidnapped. A senior British military official said, however, that British forces had not been involved in any rescue operation.

US Colonel James Yonts, spokesman for the coalition forces in Afghanistan, declined to say whether British forces were involved. “That’s not an issue I can answer.” He denied that the Afghan police and army had been ordered to stand down.

Addison served in the army as a colour sergeant before leaving six years ago to work as a crane driver. Known as Taff to his colleagues, he was only eight weeks into a year-long contract in Afghanistan. The former covert surveillance expert went to Afghanistan to work with US Protection and Investigations (USPI), a Houston-based security firm.

USPI won a £28m contract to provide security for Louis Berger, an American construction company working on a road building project by the

US Agency for International Development.

The company, which lost a member of staff last November in a firefight, was criticised earlier this year in a report by the International Crisis Group for making high payments to highway police commanders for security on the road.

The governor of Farah also accused USPI of running military-style raids into nomadic camps in search of the kidnappers, a view shared by a western security source in Afghanistan.

Del Spier, project manager for the company, last week declined to comment on the allegations.

Paul Pilkington, Addison’s father-in-law, said his son-in-law had been offered the job and left for Afghanistan a week later.

“He was just a normal working bloke,” he said. “He wanted to stay there to earn money to pay for fertility treatment for his wife. When he returned, he was going to pay off his mortgage. It has been a terrible tragedy for the family.”

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