POLICE have today named a woman who was killed after a crash on a Hampshire motorway.

Marie Heather Hardes, 56, died after she was involved in the collision which caused the M3 to be closed.

Miss Hardes was a passenger in a Honda Accord which was involved in the incident close to junction nine at Winchester.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo police are investigating whether Miss Hardes, who lived in the Poole area but came from Maidstone in Kent, died after being struck by a passing car after she had stepped out of the car she was travelling in.

Witnesses to the fatal smash on the M3's northbound carriageway report seeing the woman standing in the road before she was hit by a vehicle, throwing her into the air.

Officers from the Roads Policing Unit investigating the tragic crash confirmed that the information formed one of the lines of inquiry to establish the circumstances surrounding the death.

The collision happened during rush hour traffic on the evening of November 10.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and battled to save the life of the woman, but despite their best efforts, she was pronounced dead at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

The motorway was closed between junctions 11 and 9 for more than seven hours as police began their investigations into what happened.

Anyone with information about the crash should call police on 101, quoting Operation Hemisphere.