A DEVOTED husband ran over his wife of 65 years when his foot slipped off the brake of his automatic car, an inquest in Minehead was told last Thursday.

Eileen Dipper, 84, died from multiple spine fractures after being crushed between a wall and a Renault Clio driven by husband Harvey.

The couple, of Wassail Close, Carhampton, had recently celebrated their diamond wedding and were returning from church in Dunster when tragedy struck on January 31 this year.

Eyewitness Andrew Fay said he was walking in St George's Road, Dunster, when he saw the Clio begin to pull out of a parking space, which was tight against a wall by the village school.

He saw Mrs Dipper walking towards the car when it then began to reverse back into the space.

"I heard the engine start to rev, I presumed it was getting out of the way of a car that was coming up the hill.

"I saw it come backwards quickly and heard the sound of the car going into the car behind.

"In between I heard a lady say 'Stop! Stop!' twice," Mr Fay said.

Police officer David Land said there no mechanical faults on the Clio and evidence at the scene showed Mrs Dipper became trapped under the front of the Clio and against the wall.

"The contact with the vehicle and the deceased was at very low speed, consistent with that of a parking manoeuvre," Mr Land said.

Mr Fay said Mrs Dipper was still breathing but he did not believe she regained consciousness.

She died three hours after the accident in Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

Mr Dipper, who did not attend the inquest, told policeman David Wallace he ran over his wife by accident.

Giving evidence, Mr Wallace said he saw Mr Dipper in hospital and he had been keen to explain what had happened.

"He was extremely upset. He said he had to park the car in a narrow road and had started to take the car out," Mr Wallace said.

He said Mr Dipper knew there was not enough room for his wife to get into the passenger seat until he had pulled out the space but, as he leaned over to ask her to move away from the car, his foot slipped off the brake.

Mr Wallace said: "The car went backwards and he knocked her down and jammed her against the wall. He was totally devastated by what he had done."

Mr Wallace said the automatic Clio had only just been started and the cold morning air meant it was still revving highly.

West Somerset coroner Michael Rose said it was a very tragic case.

"He [Mr Dipper] hit the car at the rear and he failed to see where his wife was standing. By the time she shouted out, it was too late and she fell under the vehicle.

"It was a tragic accident and one has enormous sympathy for him," Mr Rose said.

He recorded a verdict of accidental death and gave the medical cause of death as multiple fractures of the spine.