THE roads of Suffolk have claimed two more lives in less than 24 hours. Yesterday morning a female driver was killed in a single car crash in Rishangles, near Eye, just a few hours after another woman died in a smash at Lakenheath on Monday night.

By David Green

THE roads of Suffolk have claimed two more lives in less than 24 hours.

Yesterday morning a female driver was killed in a single car crash in Rishangles, near Eye, just a few hours after another woman died in a smash at Lakenheath on Monday night.

In yesterday's crash a woman driver was killed but the occupants of a house had a lucky escape when a car smashed into a tree beside a country road.

The accident happened at about 8.30 am on the Eye to Debenham road just outside the village of Rishangles.

Police were last night still tracing the victim's next of kin and a formal identification had not taken place.

The dead woman was described by police as “local” and aged in her 20s.

Her green Volkswagen car left the road and hit a tree - part of a hedge bordering the roadside garden of a detached house and only three metres from the wall of the kitchen and dining room.

Johanna Duah , who lives in the house with her husband and four young children, said she and her two youngest children had been in the dining room.

Her two older sons had been playing in the garden - on the other side of the house to where the accident took place - as they waited to be taken to school.

“We heard the car hit the tree and I went outside. The car had turned over the wheels were still spinning,” she said.

Mrs Duah said passers-by had stopped to try to help and she had gone back into her house to look after her children.

“We were very lucky. The car could have easily come through the wall of the house,” she added.

Mrs Duah said the family had only moved into their new home two months ago and the accident had shocked them.

Her elderly neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she had not heard the crash and had only realised it had happened when emergency vehicles arrived.

The accident occurred about one mile outside the 30 mph speed limit at Rishangles.

The road was blocked in both directions for more than four hours as fire, police and ambulance crews dealt with the accident and its aftermath.

Police said no other vehicle was involved in the crash. They are appealing for witnesses to get in touch with Pc Scott Lee-Amies of Suffolk police on 01473 613500.

The crash was the culmination of a tragic few hours on the county's roads - on Monday night another female motorist died in a crash on the B1112 at Lakenheath.

The incident, at about 8.40pm, saw a blue Ford Escort and Grey Toyota Hylux collide. Three fire crews from Brandon, Mildenhall and Thetford were called to the scene and had to use heavy cutting equipment to release one female casualty who had become trapped.

The driver of the Escort, thought to be a 30-year-old woman from Thetford, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anyone who witnessed the Lakenheath crash should call Suffolk police on 01473 613500.