Printha EllisAN INQUEST heard how a momentary lapse of concentration may have caused a crash that killed three members of one family.

Printha Ellis, 57, founder of Marlborough Jazz Festival, her husband's stepmother Maureen Ellis, 74, from Aberdeen and Printha's mother Eleanor Ault, 89, from Idaho, USA, died on September 7 last year in a crash on the A346 at Wet Pit Bends, near Ogbourne St Andrew.

All three, along with Maureen's husband Charles were travelling home towards Marlborough after a day out in Bibury in the Cotswolds when the crash happened.

Wiltshire coroner David Masters heard how Printha was driving the four home in her Rover when it drifted over the white lines into the path of a Iveco tipper truck driven by Byron Alley.

Within seconds both vehicles were in a head-on collision then a further two cars crashed into the first two.

In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Alley said: "For no apparent reason the white car began to move to the other side as if it were on a motorway, it did not indicate or slow down."

Realising a crash was imminent, Mr Alley tried to drive to swerve to the verge, but both vehicles hit each other almost head on sending them both spinning, leaving the truck blocking the road.

In another statement Charles Ellis, who was the only survivor in the Rover, said Printha had been concerned about the health of Eleanor but added there was nothing that could have taken her concentration off the road, the radio was not on and there were little conversation in the car.

He said: "I remember the car slightly drifting across the road, and then all I remember is waking up with a cracked windscreen in front of me and people all around me."

Printha's husband, Mark Ellis was asked by the coroner whether his wife, an educational author, had been left tired from her workload and having visitors at home. Mr Ellis said: "It is a strong possibility. She was in charge of a primary education programme in China and it was not yet finished.

"She was a responsible driver," added Mr Ellis saying that she would hand over driving to someone else if tired.

PC Mark Morrison, of Wiltshire police, who investigated the scene said there were no mechanical defects with the car and there was no evidence that the car had braked before impact.

He concluded that Printha had somehow fleetingly lost concentration sending the car into the path of the tipper truck.

Maureen Ellis and Ms Ault died at the scene of the accident suffering from multiple injuries from whiplash after the car had spun around.

Printha Ellis was taken to the Great Western Hospital where she later died from multiple injuries and what the pathologist described as 'blunt trauma'.

Summing up, Mr Masters said: "This really was a horrific collision between the tipper and the white Rover.

"It has had a devastating effect on the families.

"Perhaps she was tired from having visitors, we shall never know."

Verdict: Accidental Death for all three victims.

Anthony Osborne