A CORONER has questioned the decision to leave a stretch of motorway in the dark after hearing how a woman was killed when her vehicle ran out of petrol.

The section of the M65 was described as being like driving into "a black hole" at the inquest on 28-year-old Angela Farren.

The hearing at Preston was told that she had been on a Christmas shopping trip to Manchester with her sister on December 2 and after getting lost on the way home, their van ran out of petrol.

Angela, of Clifton Terrace, St Helens, was killed after being hit by four cars. She was on her way back to the van after telephoning her boyfriend from the nearby Hoghton Arms pub situated near the Riley Green exit.

It was the first fatality on the motorway, which opened four days earlier.

Earlier, a driver had used his mobile phone to call police after seeing her walking on the carriageway. James Rolfe of Chancel Place, Darwen, said the stretch was unlit. "It's very bad. It's like driving into a black hole. You can't see anything."

Angela was struck first by a car driven by Mrs Maureen Hall, of Millbrooke Close, Wheelton, as she attempted to join the motorway. Her passenger Mrs Suzanne Higgins said: "We were ready to join the motorway and she was just in front of us. I saw her before Mrs Hall and I screamed."

Accident investigation officer PC Brendan Kellett told the inquest that the hard shoulder was the same colour as the carriageway with two lanes in each direction. He described the area as "pitch black" and said: "Had street lighting been installed when the motorway was built then the pedestrian would have been more visible as well as the access road."

Consultant pathologist Dr Caroline Nicholson said tests had revealed a low level of alcohol. Cannabis was also detected, but it was not possible to quantify it, and it may have led to her being confused.

Coroner Howard McCann recorded an accidental death verdict. He said the balance of safety and intrusion to the environment had been considered by the authorities in relation to the lighting issue.

"On this occasion they got it wrong. If there had been lighting one would have hoped this would not have happened. That may be an over simplification but the evidence is so strong it is impossible not to comment."

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