A MOTORIST died after her car was in collision with a refuse lorry in Broadway.

The woman's car was heavily damaged on the driver's side shortly after 9am yesterday on Station Road before coming to rest in front of the Station Garage forecourt.

Fire crews from Evesham and Broadway rushed to free the woman, who has not yet been formally identified, from the wreckage of her Peugeot 106. She was then taken to Worcester Royal Infirmary where she was pronounced dead at 10.12am.

Following the smash the road remained closed until after midday while police examined the scene and cleared the area.

The driver of the yellow Dennis refuse disposal lorry, operated by Worcester company Clearaway Mini Skips, was not injured in the collision.

A member of staff at Station Garage said she called the emergency services to the scene. "I heard a loud noise, I didn't know what it was, so I rushed outside and saw what had happened. Someone was shouting 'call an ambulance' so I came back in and called 999. It was horrible."

Pensioners Joy and Reg Stokes, who live nearby, told of their distress after the accident.

Mrs Stokes said: "We were both having a cup of tea upstairs when I heard awful screaming brakes and then a bang.

"Reg is deaf but when I told him about it he hurried outside to see if there was anything he could do. Sadly there was nothing. The poor young lady was trapped in the car and people were waiting for fire fighters to arrive to release her. It was such an upsetting thing to happen."

Mrs Stokes said the area used to be A post mortem is due to be conducted today, Thursday, and an inquest will be opened and adjourned in Stourport next Tuesday.