A 94-year-old woman from Gerrards Cross died after her husband accidentally reversed his car over her, an inquest heard.

Catherine King died in the gated communal car park at Park House, South Park Crescent, on July 10.

It is believed that her husband George King, 90, a retired managing director, was reversing his car up a slope out of a garage and ran over his wife before colliding with a tree, but there are no eye-witnesses.

Speaking at Bucks Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, collision investigator PC Adrian White said he arrived at the scene at 11.15am to see Mrs King lying on the floor near a grey Honda Jazz which had hit a tree.

PC White said he saw her lying on her back with her feet ‘no more than two metres away from the offside of the Honda.’

He said: “I could see she had received medical treatment while on the ground. There was a dirt mark on her cardigan in her abdomen area. She had suffered some obvious visible injuries such as cuts and lacerations and close to where she was lying was a walking stick.”

PC White said that with no independent eye-witnesses and a ‘lack of significant evidence’ it is difficult to determine exactly what happened, but said it was clear that ‘she was driven over by the vehicle and died as a result’.

He said: “Mr King said he was reversing the car up the incline and said he was aware of his wife’s presence in the car park.”

PC White told how the car had collided with a tree and had an indent on the rear and a smashed windscreen, but there were no mechanical defects that could have contributed to the crash.

He said Mr King may have experienced ‘unexpected acceleration by pressing the accelerator instead of the brake.’

“We do know that Mr King was driving and at some point his wife has come to be under the vehicle but I cannot say what led to that.”

Pathologist Dr Caroline Graham concluded that Mrs King died of multiple injuries due to a road traffic collision, including a fractured pelvis, but said the ‘most severe’ injuries were to the chest.

Coroner Richard Hulett recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

He said: “There was no one there to say what happened and Mr King is not well placed to help us. The core evidence is that Mrs King was run over by this vehicle. It is quite impossible to say whether she fell beforehand and it is entirely possible that she may have had a tumble or fainted.

“All we know is she was struck by the car, which instantaneously led to fatal injuries. I would call this an accident. It did not happen on a public road, so I cannot say this was a road traffic collision. I am afraid it is a tragic outcome.”