AN ELDERLY Tetbury woman is thought to have “lost sight of the road” when she crashed her car into an oncoming vehicle on 11th June this year, an inquest heard last Tuesday.

Penelope Strong, known as Penny, 75, of Glebe House, The Meads in Tetbury, left home and was travelling on the A46 towards Nailsworth when she lost control of her Honda Jazz on a right hand bend and crashed into a BMW travelling in the opposite direction.

She was taken to Southmead Hospital but she died from her injuries on June 14, the Gloucester inquest was told.

Collision investigator Simon Wilson said it was a very warm and dry day and he noted the “unnatural brightness” when he arrived.

He said he thought that may have been reason Penny lost control.

“Mrs Strong had passed a junction towards the right hand bend, which is an area that goes from a very light area to a very dark area, so a hypothesis I had was that she failed to see where the road and grass verge met” he said in his statement in Gloucester Coroners Court.

“But that is one possibility, we do not know.

However when she lost control it seems she attempted to correct this but her car rotated clockwise and continued that way.

“The driver of the BMW, Mr Appleyard, tried to brake to avoid the collision but the cars collided.

“There is no loss of control marks on the road which suggests Mrs Strong misjudged that corner,” he concluded.

Senior coroner Katie Skerrett said it was “tragic timing” with a vehicle coming in the opposite direction leading to the “tragic accident” which claimed Mrs Strong’s life.

“Her car started to spin and sadly she collided with Mr Appleyard’s car” Mrs Skerrett said and recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.