AN inquest was opened and adjourned into a pensioner who died in hospital following a traffic accident at Ashley Heath earlier this month.

Rosemary Valerie Queree died at Southampton General Hospital on January 5.

The 78-year-old had been involved in an accident on Horton Road, just before 4pm earlier that day.

Mrs Queree, a retired nurse and widow, lived at Oak Tree Road, Bitterne Park, Southampton.

Assistant Dorset Coroner Victoria Cook opened the inquest at Dorset Coroner’s Court, Bournemouth.

Coroner’s officer Ken McEwan said: “Rosemary Queree was driving her white Volvo car on Horton Road, Ashley Heath, when it went on to the opposite side of the road colliding with an oncoming vehicle.”

She was taken to hospital but her condition “dramatically deteriorated,” explained Mr McEwan.

The inquest will resume in August.