POLICE have issued more details about the 73-year-old woman who died in an M40 collision last week, as well as a statement from her family.

Mollie Haines was driving to visit her daughter and grandchildren in Kingston upon Thames on Wednesday, July 18, when she was involved in a collision near the Beaconsfield junction (see related links).

Mrs Haines, who lived in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, is survived by her husband Charles, three daughters who live in the London and Birmingham areas, a son in Ireland and seven grandchildren.

The family released this statement through West Mercia Police: “Mollie was very much the focal point for all of us and losing her so suddenly in these circumstances has left us deeply shocked and saddened.

“She will be remembered for her lovely smile, her kind and generous ways and her great sense of humour.

“She was a friend to so many people and we are very grateful for the huge number of tributes and messages we have received from people who knew her.”

Mrs Haines was raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and educated at St Andrews in Scotland before she trained as an orthoptist in Oxford.

Her work took her to Malta where she met her future husband, who was then serving in the Navy. They married in 1963.

She later worked at the Midland Eye Hospital in Birmingham for more than 20 years while her husband, who is now retired, was a consultant paediatrician at the former Bromsgrove General Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and later the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

Mrs Haines was also president of Blackwell Ladies Golf Club in Bromsgrove, with her other interests including ornithology and Bridge.

Her funeral will be held at Redditch Crematorium on Thursday, August 2, at 11.45am.