THE deaths of three members of a family in the M56 crash will have shocked readers, wherever they are, because such scenes are almost impossible to comprehend, even if you've witnessed them with your own eyes.

In Ledbury, today, emotions will be on a roller-coaster like rarely before, so our thoughts are with everyone there, as well as with the bereaved.

What should have been a joyous day for a delightful and delighted town will now be anything but.

It ought to have been impossible to escape the frissant of excitement at the thought of the Queen's visit.

Instead, within half-a-mile of the people greeting her, a sign in a newsagent's explained that it was closed "due to death in family".

We use the word "disaster" to describe so many things. More often than not, it's a relative term. In Ledbury, for the next few weeks and months, it will have one meaning alone.

Among the thoughts running through the minds of hundreds of folk lining the streets will be how fragile life is, and how often we worry too much about the unimportant things.

Today, police were trying to work out how the minibus came to grief on what should have been a 10-minute journey to Manchester Airport.

The officer who heard the M56 crash at around 5.40am yesterday, and rushed to the wreckage, said: "I have heard someone describe an air of silence and respect at the scene, which sums it up."

We hope the same will have been true of Ledbury today. We're sure the Queen would understand.