A woman has told how she comforted Tracey Rooke as she lay dying after a crash in the fog.

Ms Rooke, 43, of Worton, near Devizes, died after her Ford Fiesta was in collision with 7.5 tonne lorry on the A3102 at Mile Elm between Sandy Lane and Calne at 9.50am last Thursday.

Former teacher Sharon Wetton, whose house is close to where the accident happened, said her first instinct was to go to the woman and let her know that help was on its way.

Mrs Wetton, 48, has seen 12 accidents outside her house in the last two years, including an incident last summer when a car went into her house.

She was with Ms Rooke holding her hand outside the car for about 15 minutes before the first paramedic arrived and also had help from a local maintenance man who climbed into the passenger seat.

Mrs Wetton said: “It wasn’t long, but it felt like ages before the paramedic arrived. I was getting ready to go out and all of a sudden I heard a massive thud and it sounded like last summer when they had gone into the house.

“My first instinct was to go to her. I ran to her and started rubbing her arm, and saying it was all going to be all right, and we were getting help for her.

"I said ‘quick call the ambulance she needs help’ and then people were stopping and everyone was ringing.

“I just kept talking to her telling her everything was going to be all right. She was unconscious but I wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone and there were people trying to help her.”

Ms Rooke lived in Worton with her 18-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son. She had a third son, aged 25, who lives out of the county.

Paramedics treated her for cardiac arrest, but she died at the scene from her injuries.

The day before the accident, at 6am, Mrs Wetton saw another accident when a young man lost control on the bend. He went into bushes at the roadside, but was unharmed.

She said the bend in the road is dangerous and wants more signs warning drivers to take care, as well as a lower speed limit.

“I don’t know what happened and I’m really sorry for the family. I’m just so sad that someone has lost their life here and we had to witness it,” she said.

“The problem is that this road is not safe and something needs to be done to make it safer.

“It happens in the summer as well, it’s not just because it’s this time of year. I tried really hard to help the woman and my deepest condolences are with the family.

“I cannot imagine what they are going through.

“For us it was our worst nightmare so I don’t know what it must be like for them.”

The road links Silver Street in Calne to the A342 Devizes Road and had a 60 mile per hour speed limit until this was changed to 50mph about seven months ago.

Residents have raised concerns about the safety of the road, which they say has several dangerous bends, and it is likely this will be raised at future council meetings.