Times & Star

Wigton death crash victim named

Last updated at 22:25, Sunday, 15 February 2009

A Wigton woman killed in a horrific car crash on a narrow country road was tonight named as Catherine Alexis McNeil.

The Fiat Punto

The 20-year-old, who worked as a supervisor for a catering company at the Innovia Films factory in her home town, was a passenger in a Fiat Punto which left the road and hit a tree at Brocklebank between Caldbeck and Wigton.

She had been taken by helicopter to Newcastle General Hospital following the accident on Friday, but died late yesterday afternoon.

Family and friends tonight said they were mourning "the sudden and tragic loss of Cath".

The crashed car's 17-year-old male driver, also from Wigton, was admitted to the same hospital in Newcastle with head injuries. Police have described his condition as serious but stable.

He had initially been taken to The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, but he was later transferred to the north east after his condition worsened.

The accident happened at about 12.30pm as the teenager drove along the Red Dial to Caldbeck road.

The black Punto left the road at Brocklebank, crashing in a field next to a downhill stretch of road four miles south east of Wigton, near to the Wallace Lane Sawmill.

It was being driven from the Caldbeck direction. The Punto cleared a wire fence and is thought to have become airborne as it left the road before smashing into a tree and coming to rest in the field 10m from the road.

The impact was such that the front end of the Punto was severely crushed.Part of the tree’s trunk was ripped away as the car smashed into it.

Fire crews were alerted at 12.30pm. Firefighters from Carlisle and Wigton had to use hydraulic cutting gear to free the casualties.

The road was closed for six hours as police accident investigators carried out a detailed examination of the scene, attempting to piece together what caused the crash.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the accident to contact them on 0845 33 00 247.