Driver error is believed to be the cause of a road accident in which a woman was killed, it was ruled this week.

The details of the collision were revealed during an inquest into the death of Shirley Ison, 52, of Chatteris, who was travelling northbound between Dalham and Gazeley, near Newmarket, along Gazeley Road when the crash happened last year.

Mrs Ison, a mother of two, was area manager of Premier Travel in Fore Hill, Ely. She worked for the company for 36 years.

The inquest, which was held in Bury St Edmunds on Monday, heard Mrs Ison’s BMW left the road and collided with a tree on November 27, with her death confirmed at the scene at 7.03pm.

Pc Richard Godden, a forensic collision investigator with Suffolk police, said there had been substantial damage to the car’s offside.

He said the vehicle’s wheels entering the soft verge had caused it to rotate and, as impact was made with the tree, it was “whipped” around it, with the car left facing the opposite direction.

In the absence of any other explanation for the crash, Pc Godden said: “I can only conclude an error by the driver caused the loss of control. I’m unable to determine precisely what that error was.”

Assistant coroner Dr Dan Sharpstone concluded the cause of death of Mrs Ison was that of a road traffic collision.

Her career had been entirely spent with the independent travel operator and she was a well respected and liked figure in the community. Premier’s managing director Susan Papworth described her as a “much valued member of the Premier family and will be missed by us all”.

She leaves two daughters, Jessamine and Bethany.