TORRENTIAL rain led to a crash in which 26-year-old Melksham care worker Harriet Gormley died, an inquest has heard.

Her boyfriend Jamie Blake, 28, was driving a red Austin Mini to his dad’s house in West Kennett, near Avebury, on July 7 last year when the crash happened just before 3.15pm.

As the couple, of Cotswold Close, Melksham, were approaching the brow of Silbury Hill on the A4, the car aquaplaned, spinning 90 degrees before hitting two unoccupied parked cars in a lay-by on the opposite side of the road.

Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday that Miss Gormley, a former engineering technician with the Fleet Air Arm, was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering multiple traumatic injuries.

Mr Blake suffered a head injury and was taken to Swindon’s Great Western Hospital.

Nine witness statements read by HM assistant coroner Claire Balysz described the road as being ‘submerged in water’ because of the unusually heavy rainfall.

PC Steve Fair from the Collision Investigation Unit in Devizes described the rain as being horrendous. He added: “I’ve driven along the roads many times and never seen water like it.”

He estimated that before the collision Mr Blake, who had passed his test five months before the crash, was travelling between 59- 66mph along the road, which has a 60mph speed limit. He said it said ‘was inappropriate for the weather conditions’.

PC Fair said it was likely Mr Blake had over-steered to counteract the car aquaplaning on the water and lost control.

When Ms Balysz asked Mr Blake what he remembered about the crash he said: “I don’t really have any memory of the crash. I just remember seeing someone at the window after it happened.”

Mr Blake could also not remember when the rain began or if he adjusted his speed or lights because of the weather before the crash.

The CPS ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge Mr Blake in connection with the crash. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

During the hearing, Miss Gormley’s parents, Janet and Patrick, described their music-loving daughter as a bright, bubbly girl, who was passionate about classic cars and owned several vintage motors.

Born in Plymouth and raised in Cornwall, Miss Gormley had moved to Melksham with Mr Blake to train to become a driving instructor. While training, she became a carer for Somerset Care, working with people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

“She was always helping people of all ages,” Mr Gormley said.

“Harriet was hugely popular, with a massively extrovert personality. Perhaps this might be best summed up by the 250 plus people who attended her funeral.”