THE family of a Suffolk woman are today mourning her death in a car crash near Bury St Edmunds.Kathleen Gardiner, of Horringer, is the first fatality on the county's roads in 2002.

A WOMAN who died after a crash near Bury St Edmunds is the first fatality on Suffolk's roads in 2002.

Kathleen Gardiner, 62, of Godfreys Close, Horringer, was believed to be the widow of a police officer.

She was taken to hospital after being cut free by firefighters from her car following a "high speed" crash yesterday on the A134 at Little Whelnetham.

Today shocked neighbours were too distressed to talk about Mrs Gardiner but did describe her as being a wonderful neighbour and a good friend.

Mrs Gardiner suffered head, spinal and internal injuries along with multiple fractures.

Emergency services were called shortly before 3pm to the accident, with three fire crews from Bury St Edmunds attending the scene.

The East Anglian air ambulance was also called, but the ambulance trust said Mrs Gardiner – who was accompanied by the airborne paramedics – was taken by road to West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.

A member of the public, who was driving on the road at the time, helped administer first aid to the victim before the arrival of paramedics.

The male driver of the second car, who is believed to come from the Colchester area, was shaken but not injured in the incident.

But it is understood that the man, who has not been named, took himself to hospital later.

The crash led to the road, between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, being closed for several hours.

It is believed the vehicles were travelling in opposite directions at the time of the crash, which the air ambulance service described as a "high speed accident", on a sweeping bend where a side road leads off to the villages of Whelnetham and Cockfield.