CHESHIRE Police are urgently appealing for information after a woman died last Thursday in a car accident on the A54 Middlewich Road.

Claire Hitchen, aged 30, was travelling from Middlewich to Winsford in her blue BMW three-series saloon when it collided with a silver Vauxhall Corsa hatchback on a bend in the road at around 7.15pm.

Miss Hitchen, who lived at Linnet Close in Winsford and worked at a day care nursery, died at the scene.

The driver of the Vauxhall Corsa, a 59-year-old woman from Anglesey in north Wales, was travelling in the opposite direction when the collision happened.

Although she incurred serious injuries, a police spokesman said they were not life threatening.

The Vale Royal and Congleton traffic unit has launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident.

Collision

Officers would like to hear from anybody who was travelling on the road around the time of the collision.

Anybody with information should telephone PC Forder, who is heading the investigation, at Northwich Police Station on 01244 613261

An inquest has been opened and adjourned following the accident.

As far back as 1998, residents living along the road in Clive and Stanthorne began campaigning for an alternative route to be built on the A54 along the lines of the Davenham bypass, after snarl-ups and high traffic volumes made their lives a misery.

Congleton borough and county councillor Dave Sutton said yesterday, Tuesday: "The sheer volume of traffic has increased over the years and it is becoming an increasingly dangerous road.

"The people who live along it have been concerned for a number of years. That is why we have been pushing for a by-pass as that would relieve the amount of traffic on the A54."

rfraser@guardiangrp.co.uk