TRIBUTES have been paid to much loved clergywoman Beth Brown who lost her battle to survive this week after being involved in an accident in Oxfordshire in December

The Rev Brown, who lived in the vicarage in Bishops Cannings, near Devizes, was critically injured in the accident at Langford in Oxfordshire on December 23.

This week parishioners in the diocese were told that she had died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where she was being treated for serious internal injuries.

Churchwarden Peter Russ said: “Beth only joined the Benefice a couple of years ago, but since her appointment, she has become well known and liked in the local community.

"I have been surprised and heartened by the large number of people who have wanted to visit Beth in Hospital, many of whom are not involved with the Church.

"This is testimony to the way in which Beth dedicated herself to the role and the high esteem in which she was held. She will be sadly missed but she has left a legacy of fond memories.”

Ms Brown's white Ford Fiesta was involved in a collision with a grey MG ZR on the A361 as she returned to Wiltshire after visiting her father. The 30-year-old man driving the MG died at the scene.

Parents and pupils at Bishops Cannings Primary, where Ms Brown was a governor, had been praying for her recovery.

Ms Brown, who was a retired teacher, was an associate priest at Bishops Cannings.