A grieving husband has hit out after a driver involved in an accident in which his wife died received a £500 fine.

Lynn Hunter died from severe head injuries three days after the accident.

The 48-year-old had been driving to Windsor to visit her daughter and grandchildren, when another driver hit her as she passed a slip road near Hartlepool.

Seven months after the crash in May, Maris Fraser, 47, of Marton Road, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention.

She was given six penalty points and a £500 fine by Hartlepool magistrates.

Mrs Hunter's husband, Robert , 48, said he felt cheated by the sentence and that tougher charges should have been brought against the driver.

He said: "Something in my life has been stolen and there is something wrong here.

"We had 30 years left together in life and we feel cheated of justice. That accident caused my wife's death and the justice system needs to recognise that.

"I'm not saying this woman should have been sent down, she did the best she could by admitting to the charges straight away, but they could have at least banned her from driving."

Mr and Mrs Hunter were teenage sweethearts who had drifted apart and married other people. But they met up again ten years ago and fell in love again. They had married a year before the accident.

Mrs Hunter has three children Jane, 29, Claire, 26, and Edward, 22. Mr Hunter also has three children Robert, 21, David, 19, and Victoria, 16.

The couple had set up a media business and were in the process of renovating their North Shields home.

On May 11, Mrs Hunter had been driving to visit her grandchildren, Mia and Joe, when the accident happened.

Fraser had been entering the motorway from a slip road when she collided with Mrs Hunter, sending her crashing into another car travelling in the fast lane.

Emergency services battled to free Mrs Hunter from her crushed car and took her by air ambulance to James Cook Hospital, in Middlesbrough, but she died three days later.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "In this case, a prosecutor experienced in dealing with road traffic incidents that result in a fatality, reviewed all the available evidence.

"Careful consideration was given as to whether the charge should be one of dangerous driving or one of driving without due care and attention.

"The prosecutor considered the standard of driving of the defendant based on the evidence provided and decided that the correct charge in this case was one of driving without due care and attention."

An inquest will be held next month in Middlesbrough.