Van driver arrested after woman killed in A49 crash
A van driver has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving after a crash in which a woman was killed and a child was left in a critical condition.
The news comes amid fresh calls for action to be taken over the safety of the A49, one of the region's major trunk roads.
Police are now calling for witnesses following the crash at Hope under Dinmore, near Leominster, on Monday afternoon, after the woman driver of a Vauxhall Corsa was pronounced dead at the scene.
Paul Roberts, speaking for West Mercia Police, said: "Two children were also in this vehicle.
"One received what have been described as life-threatening injuries and was taken by air ambulance to Birmingham Children's Hospital, where she remains in a critical condition.
"The other child was taken to Hereford County Hospital A&E department for treatment for a minor injury.
"A 36-year-old man from Wellington, Herefordshire, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving."
The crash happened at about 3.30pm on the northern side of Dinmore Hill, between a Volkswagen Transporter van travelling towards Hereford and a blue Vauxhall Corsa travelling in the opposite direction.
Councillor Peter McCaull, vice chairman of Herefordshire Council and ward member for Leominster South, has added his voice to calls for action to improve the notoriously dangerous road between Shrewsbury and Hereford.
Following a serious accident at Wistanstow in October, and three deaths since June, on the A49 through south Shropshire, David Evans, Shropshire councillor for Craven Arms said last month he despaired that safety would ever improve on the winding, mostly single carriageway trunk road.
Anyone with information on the A49 crash is asked to call the operation patrol unit at Hereford on 101, quoting reference 437s of November 14.
