An elderly woman died from choking after she suffered stomach injuries in a car crash, an inquest heard.

Valerie Munro, 74, of Battery Road, Lydd, was killed after her car swerved into oncoming traffic on the A2070 in Hamstreet in June.

She was driving to Ashford with a friend when, for an unknown reason, she lost control on a bend and crashed into a Scania lorry being driven the other way.

Coroner Rachel Redman recorded a verdict of asphyxiation after a pathologist report found food particles in her lungs.

Dr Nicola Chaston said Mrs Munro suffered a blow to the stomach in the crash, which probably caused her to vomit and choke.

But after listening to the evidence at the inquest at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday, Mrs Redman said it was impossible to know why she lost control of her car.

She said: “Mrs Munro suffered minor injuries to her upper back and she had some bruising on her brain but none of these were sufficient to cause her death.

“In the accident she received some trauma to her abdomen which caused her to vomit and then regurgitate.

“I still do not know what caused her to lose control but she crossed that other lane so the cause of the accident lies with her.

“The lorry did what it could, it tried to avoid this inevitable collision.”

A statement from Mr Pleun Spruit, the dutch lorry driver who was heading to Hastings, was read out by the coroner.

He said: “I was speaking to my friend on a hands-free set.

“There was a silver car travelling towards me then all of a sudden it drove straight towards the front of my vehicle.

“I shouted out to my friend on the phone, ‘I’m going to have a big accident now’.

“I was on the brakes so hard I felt as though I was standing on them but I veered off the road.

“I could not stop and my vehicle went into the trees.

“I have been a driver for 47 years and this is the first time I have been in an accident.”

Mrs Redman said: “This was an accidental death and we have gone as far as we can to try to identify the cause of Mrs Munro’s loss of control.”