A WOMAN was killed when her car skidded on icy roads and crashed into a bus near Woolacombe.

An inquest heard the road may not have been gritted on the day of the fatal crash.

Woolacombe resident Valerie Clarabut, 72, died after the crash on December 29, 2008.

At North Devon Magistrates Court last Thursday an inquest heard Mrs Clarabut had lost control of the vehicle and collided with a First Great Western bus near Mullacott Cross on the B3343.

Coroner Elizabeth Earland recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mrs Clarabut was married and a retired secretary who lived in Hartland View.

The inquest heard a statement from bus driver Ian Smale who was driving towards Woolacombe at around 8.20am.

Mr Smale said he saw a green Rover Metro losing control around 150 metres away and coming towards him in the wrong lane.

Mr Smale said the car swerved in and out of his lane as the driver desperately tried to slow down.

He said: "It was obviously going to collide with me but I hoped it would hit side to side.

"I managed to get onto a grass verge bank on the near side of the road but unfortunately the Metro collided head-on with a lot of force and then spun round as if it was going to hit again.

"I braced myself and was covered in a lot of glass from the windscreen."

Passing motorists stopped to check Mrs Clarabut.

She was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering multiple injuries.

Mr Smale said: "There was nothing I could have done to avoid the collision."

MPC Stuart Parratt, a road crash investigator, said the frosty conditions led to the incident.

He said: "There were no mechanical defects with either the Rover or the bus. The driver entered the right hand bend and skidded.

"The driver made a number of attempts to correct the situation but in doing so may have overcorrected on more than one occasion."

Dr Earland said: "It is safe to say on the balance of probability that this was an accident."

Dr Earland asked if the B3343 road would have been gritted on the day of the incident.

MPC Parratt said: "I wouldn't imagine so because it wasn't a major route for the local authorities."