A 34-year-old care worker from Felixstowe died due to a road traffic accident on the Strand at Wherstead, a Coroner's Court has concluded.

Assistant coroner Peter Taheri ruled that Clair James died as the result of the accident on September 5 after her car collided head on with a van.

Mr Taheri resumed an inquest into her death at Suffolk Coroners' Court in Ipswich yesterday (Monday, March 25) and heard deputy care home manager Miss James was driving her red Ford Fiesta along the B1456 towards Ipswich when the crash occurred.

The court heard how her car was involved in a headlong collision with a white Isuzu D-Max, which was being driven by two marine technicians who were on their way to carry out mud sampling.

Although both the van driver and its passenger were unharmed, Miss James died at the scene as a result of her injuries, despite the best efforts of a passing nurse and army medic who came to Miss James' aid before they emergency services arrived on scene.

Expert witness Rhianna Ward, a forensic collision investigator conducted an analysis of the scene of the accident and the court heard it was likely that as Miss James navigated a bend, her inside wheels entered the rut on the left-hand edge of the road.

Ms Ward said she believed Miss James then steered to the right to rectify this, and in doing so, oversteered, causing the car to swerve into the path of the van in the opposite lane, with neither driver having time to stop before the crash occurred.

Mr Taheri read out tributes to Miss James from her family who said she was someone: "...who took on life and everything that came with it".

Miss James was deputy manager at Orchard Barns Nursery in Stratford St Mary, having fallen in love with childcare.

During her career, Miss James' family said she received praise and gratitude from parents, who appreciated the way she nurtured their children, giving them opportunities to learn and grow whilst making sure they had fun, too