OAP DIES IN CAR PARK ACCIDENT

Joyce Hood, 76, died after her Renault Clio smashed into a parked vehicle in Safeway car park, Queens Road, on Friday morning.

Eyewitnesses said her car had been speeding with the driver door open when it crashed into the Ford Escort at 10.20am.

PS Brian McCartney, from the Road Policing Department, said: "We are still trying to get to the bottom of why she was travelling the way she was.

"We're not sure if she was getting out or going into the car, and then it seemed to get out of control."

The force of the blow rammed the parked vehicle into a lamppost and bushes, tearing into the body of the Ford and crushing it in half.

The owner of the Ford, and her two young daughters, heard the bang from inside the supermarket and ran out to be greeted by the wreckage.

Mrs Hood, of Mountbatten Close, was the only person in the car, and was pulled from her seat by ambulance crews, who gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation on the scene.

She suffered head and leg injuries, which were not thought to be life threatening at the time. She died four hours later at the Conquest Hospital from a heart attack. Mrs Hood, a widow, has two sons in the Hastings area.

A spokesman from Safeway said: "We would like to pass on our sincere condolences to the family, we are very sorry for what has happened."

Police are viewing CCTV images from the car park, but are appealing for more witnesses to come forward.

PS McCartney said: "The more witnesses that come forward the more bits of the puzzle we can start putting together. It's an odd one and we really do not know the circumstances around it."

PS McCartney is asking witnesses to contact him on 0845 60 70 999, quote Operation Eastbury.