A woman who died in a horrific car crash last week was believed to have been on her way to her family home for a bridesmaid dress fitting for her sister’s wedding.

Alison Kelly, 29, died last Tuesday evening when her car was involved in a crash on the A355 Amersham Road.

A colleague at Shardeloes Farm Equestrian Centre in Amersham, where she had been an apprentice, said Ms Kelly had been driving home to Portsmouth and believed she was heading there for a bridesmaid dress fitting for her sister's wedding. 

Gemma Porter-Rawlings, yard manager at the site in Cherry Lane, said Ms Kelly’s death has left everyone at the centre ‘completely numb’.

She said: “She had been with us since February, but it felt much longer than that because she slotted into the team very well.

"She was lovely, she was very popular with the staff and the clients, she was eternally cheerful. She was so full of life and full of fun, we all thought she was 18 or 19, the way she lived her life. She loved dancing.

“She was so funny and witty and she absolutely loved the horses. As an employee, she was completely dedicated and hard working.”

The keen polocrosse player had been training to become a riding instructor and had already passed two exams since joining the team at the centre in Amersham.

Ms Porter-Rawlings said that many of the staff, including Alison, lived on the site and were like ‘one big family’.

She said: “We all lived, worked and played together. Her death has left a huge hole in our family.

“We were devastated when we found out. I had been speaking to her father on Wednesday morning and then I pulled everyone in and told them.

“We were in utter disbelief. Even a week on, I don’t think it has sunk in. We are still stuck in a nightmare.”