Tests due on Burway plunge driver

The family of the woman have been informed and a post mortem is due to be carried out later today.

Officers were alerted at about 11.30am yesterday to the crash, in which a beige Saab 9-3 car left The Burway road on the Long Mynd, near Church Stretton, and rolled at least 100ft down a steep embankment into the valley.

The female driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Inspector Ken Mackaill, from West Mercia Police, today said the woman was believed to be in her 60s and was not from Shropshire.

"We don't believe at this stage any other vehicles were involved but we are keeping an open mind," he said.

Jo Mason, from The National Trust, which owns the land in Carding Mill Valley where the incident took place, said: "Yesterday, there was a fatal car accident at Carding Mill Valley.

"It is part of an ongoing police investigation so we can say very little, but our thoughts are with the family of the deceased."

An ambulance crew, a rapid response unit with an incident support officer and the Midlands Air Ambulance attended the scene.

When they arrived, they found the woman, who was believed to be the driver, out of the car with the fire service in attendance and resuscitation attempts being made.

The road over the Long Mynd was closed until 4.20pm yesterday after the crash which saw the vehicle come to rest in a stream.

Town councillor Peter Relph said he was shocked and saddened to hear the news.