Road accident claims another rider

A nurse who suffered serious head injuries when she was thrown from a horse has died in hospital.

Jane Orme, aged 55, of Charlton Musgrove, near Wincanton, Somerset, died in Southampton General Hospital at the weekend. She lived with her husband, Philip, in Dibbens Row, and worked in a residential care home.

She is understood to have been riding a friend’s horse when the accidenthappened on a stretch of the old A303 at Hunters Lodge, near Wincanton.

Witnesses said the horse had been running out of control. Fears that it may have been spooked by a vehicle led to renewed pleas for drivers to observe the speed restrictions on the road, which is popular with riders.

Mrs Orme was knocked unconscious and was airlifted to Dorset County hospital, Dorchester and alter transferred to Southampton General.

The accident led to a call by Nikki Forbes, proprietor of Kingfisher Stud at Riding Gate, Wincanton, for Somerset county council to act to cut the speed of drivers usingthe old road.

Mrs Forbes first called for a review last September.The nearest bridleway to Riding Gate is half-a-mile away and riders must use the old A303 to reach it unless they have permission from farmers to use their land as a short-cut. Inthe present foot-and-mouth crisis they are restricted to roads.

Since Mrs Orme’s accident 10 days ago, Mrs Forbes has had many calls from other local riders backing her campaign. She said: “I said an accident was waiting to happen and now it has.”

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