A “bubbly” Marlow mum who inexplicably lost control of her car on a tight bend died when her car was hit by an oncoming vehicle, an inquest heard.

Clare Smith, from Newtown Road, was driving along a winding country road with her nine-year-old daughter when she lost control, colliding with a Nissan Qashqai which was being driven in the opposite direction and hitting a tree.

Giving evidence to a coroner, Stephanie Revolta, the driver of the Qashqai, said: "I was aware of a small black car coming around the corner towards me. It seemed to be drifting and it suddenly swerved to the left. It must have hit the kerb, which caused the car to bounce across the carriageway towards me.

"After the collision, we were stationary, and the Corsa came to rest very close to us on the grass verge. I called 999 and could see two ladies inside the car."

Another driver who pulled over at the scene of the crash said in a statement to the police: "I went and opened the boot of the Corsa and I called out to the people inside. There was a young girl in the passenger seat and a lady in the driver’s seat.

"It was very apparent that they had injuries."

Kevin Spiller, a forensic traffic collision expert told the coroner that even in the rainy weather conditions at the time of the incident, a driver could navigate the corner of the A380 Marlow Road at the speed limit of 50mph.

He said that it was impossible to know why or how the driver had lost control, and that as the driver would have navigated a few bends in the road before that final one, it would have been unlikely for her to have accelerated.

He said: "There was loss of control for reasons we can't be clear on."

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the crash, but Ms Smith, 38, had gone into cardiac arrest, and later died in hospital after a lack of oxygen to the brain.

Her nine-year-old daughter was expected to make a full recovery at the time of the crash, but tragically lost her mother.

At the time of her death, her family and friends paid emotional tributes to the former Wycombe Hospital worker.

Her family said: “She was very much loved by her devastated family and friends and will be forever sadly missed.”

Concluding the inquest, Berkshire coroner, Peter Bedford, said: "Based on the evidence that I have heard I will record that Clare Louise Smith died on July 30 at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford as a result of a road traffic collision."