The number of deaths of the county’s roads rose to 14 last night after a woman lost her life in a crash in Great Barton.

The 79-year-old had been driving a Suzuki Splash that was involved in a collision with a Ford Mondeo on the A143.

She was taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds but died later, the 14th person to have been killed in crashes on the county’s roads this year.

The road remained closed between the Bunbury Arms junction and the A1088 until around 10pm yesterday while members of Suffolk Constabulary’s serious collision investigation team examined the scene.

In response to the incident Suffolk’s police and crime commissioner Tim Passmore said he was going to bring forward a meeting with Suffolk County Council to try and cut the number of fatal crashes in the county.

“This is yet another tragedy on Suffolk’s roads,” he said. “This clearly demonstrates that we do need to take the level of fatal collisions on Suffolk’s roads very seriously.

“We need to look at the evidence and see what we can do collectively to reduce these terrible situations.”

Last night’s crash took place a short distance away from where 42-year-old Liam Jolly from Bury was killed in a motorbike crash on June 7.

The last two months have seen a string of serious and fatal accidents on the county’s roads, with nine people losing their lives since the end of April.

Other casualties have included 18-year-old West Suffolk College student John Walsh from Onehouse, near Stowmarket, who died after his Vauxhall Corsa left the westbound carriageway of the A14 near Rougham.

A motorcyclist from Cambridgeshire was also killed in a collision at Lackford in May.

Carlton Colville man Denis Maher was previously the most recent person to have been the victim of a fatal crash - the 53-year-old’s car was in collision with a lorry on the A12 in Henham. Ellie Nixon, aged 18 and from Felixstowe, was behind the wheel of a silver Ford Ka when it collided with a lorry in a lay-by on the A14 at Bucklesham.

Mr Passmore added: “Dealing with this has now got to be a really top priority.

“We have to treat it with the utmost urgency to see what we can do to turn this situation around.”

Last year, 30 people were killed on Suffolk’s roads, including six motorcyclists. In 2013, 25 motorists were killed on the county’s roads, nine of whom were motorcyclists.