AN elderly widow died after she “trotted” across a busy road into the path of an oncoming car, an inquest has heard.

Phyllis Krasickyj, aged 82, of Hockholler Cottages, West Buckland, was seen by drivers running across the A38 by the Blackbird Inn on a dark evening.

Witnesses and a police investigator said Winifred Ash, who was at the wheel of the car that hit Mrs Krasickyj, had no chance of avoiding the accident on December 30 last year.

Mrs Ash told police that as soon as she hit the victim she slammed on her brakes, adding: “I hadn’t seen her and didn’t know where she’d come from.”

A statement from Jamie Bellamy, who knew Mrs Krasickyj, read to the inquest in Taunton on Tuesday said that she had dementia and he had seen her crossing the road without looking in the past.

Acting senior West Somerset Coroner Tony Williams said a post mortem examination showed Mrs Krasickyj died the same day at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, of traumatic injuries, with the conclusion that her death was accidental.