Marion Higham, 67, of Greenlands Avenue, had been to The Manor pub on Braithwell Road on Monday 2nd July with her husband Alan and two friends, Rotherham Coroners’ Court heard.

The group went to the pub every week to play bingo and have a few drinks and, on this occasion, Marion left before Alan to get a lift home with her friends.

The court heard that Marion had been a passenger in the back of the red Rover car which left the pub at around 11pm and collided with a grey Ford Fiesta as they left the car park at the junction with Salisbury Road.

Marc Poulton, of Retford, was the driver of the Fiesta. There was no alcohol in his system and he was not driving above the 40mph speed limit on the road.

Coroner Stanley Hooper told the court the evidence showed that there was no apparent reason why the driver of the Rover should not have seen the Fiesta coming.

Alan Higham went outside to see what had happened to his wife after somebody in the pub said there had been a crash outside.

He talked with Marion, who was trapped in the back, and he said she seemed to be in pain before moving aside so that the emergency services could remove her from the vehicle. She died at Rotherham Hospital around four hours later.

Members of Marion’s family wept as Professor John Lee, who carried out the post mortem, read out his findings, which showed that she suffered a number of fractured ribs and heavy internal bleeding.

Mr Hooper recorded a verdict which said that Marion Higham died as a result of an accident.

”I express my sympathy to the Higham family and to all others concerned,” he said.