A MEALS on wheels driver was killed in a three-vehicle smash on the A36 near Codford on Monday.

Retired army captain Derek Reilly, 73, from Boscombe Down, near Amesbury, is the third person to die this year on the stretch of the A36 known as Death Valley.

His death came less than three weeks after 30-year-old motorcyclist Philip Browning, from Ringwood, was killed on the same stretch of road.

Mr Browning's death, one of four in four days on the road, prompted the Wiltshire Times to launch its Drive Down the Death Toll campaign.

Mr Reilly regularly delivered meals from Salisbury to residents in Warminster and was doing so at the time of the accident at noon on Monday.

In the smash, which happened by the Hillside Caf, Codford, an articulated lorry and Mr Reilly's Ford Focus ended up at the bottom of the roadside bank.

The lorry, travelling south from Warminster, was unable to stop after a Mercedes Vito van it was following slowed down.

The lorry swerved to the right and struck its rear side, before veering across the carriageway into the path of Mr Reilly's Ford Focus, sending both vehicles careering off the road. Three fire engines and one emergency support unit attended the scene as fire crews cut Mr Reilly's body from the wreck of his car.

The road between Upton Lovell and Codford St Peter was closed for five hours.

PC Richard Hatch, of Corsham Traffic Police, said: "The Ford Focus driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The lorry driver, a 37-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, and has been bailed."

Monday's crash has prompted residents to renew their calls for better safety on the road. On Friday Wiltshire County Council's cabinet recommended an improvement scheme for the Codford to Heytesbury section of the A36, which the Government will now consider.

Romy Wyeth, chairman of Codford Parish Council, said: "It is vital that the county council gets funding for the scheme. We just hope the Government comes through.

Anyone with information on the crash should contact PC Hatch at Corsham Traffic on (01249) 716564.