Retired policeman tried to help Corsham fatal crash victim

12:33pm Thursday 2nd July 2009

By Rachel Allen

Retired policeman Tom Willis told how he rushed to help the victim of a fatal crash in Corsham this morning.

The woman, who was travelling with two young children, was killed when her car collided with a refuse lorry on the A4 in Corsham.

The accident happened at 8.45am when the woman’s black Land Rover Discovery was in collision with a Biffa lorry before crashing into a stone wall at the junction with the A4 and the B3109 Bradford Road.

Former police officer Mr Willis, 72, heard the crash from his home in Bradford Road. He said: “I heard this horrible bang and knew straight away from experience that it was a serious accident. I rushed out of the house and went over to the vehicle where several other drivers were trying to get the children out of the car.

“There was a small child aged around three to four in a car seat in the front and a smaller child, between one and two years old I think, in a seat in the back.

“I helped get them out and then went round to the woman and checked for a pulse but there wasn’t one.

Firefighters from Corsham and Chippenham helped the lorry driver out of his vehicle. He was taken to hospital after complaining of stomach pains.

Corsham watch manager Mark Unwin said at the scene: “We got here at about 9am and built a platform to get the lorry driver out.

“The Wiltshire Air Ambulance also landed in a nearby field but wasn’t needed. We will be on the scene for the next four hours until the police have completed their investigation and the removal vehicles have turned up.”

The two children were also taken to the hospital but police said it was only a precautionary measure as they had very minor injuries.

The A4 was closed from Leafy Lane to the Park Lane junction in Corsham while police cleared debris from the road and carried out accident investigations.

Roads policing unit inspector Ian Stevenson said: “At this time the exact cause of the accident is unknown.”

The A4 will be closed for the next three hours while the police process the scene and the vehicles are recovered. Police are asking drivers to find alternative routes around the scene as the A4 is closed from Leafy Lane to the Park Lane junction in Corsham.