A MOTHER-OF-TWO died after losing control of her car shortly after she saw her son in a nativity play.

An inquest heard yesterday that Marina Raimondi, 30, of Estoril Road, Darlington, died in the crash on the A167 only a week before Christmas.

The Darlington College hair and beauty tutor was heading to Northallerton, North Yorkshire, in a Vauxhall Corsa to meet a prospective student.

The accident took place as she approached Great Smeaton from Darlington at 2.50pm on December 17, just after a snow shower.

Rowena Langdale, of Hunton, North Yorkshire, was heading towards Darlington and had just left Great Smeaton in her silver Peugeot 206 when the crash happened.

She said: “In the periphery of my vision, I saw a car wobble from the opposite direction.

In moments, I saw a blue wall in front of me and we collided.”

Miss Langdale suffered hip injuries and remains off work.

Leslie Blackburn, of Dalton- on-Tees, told the inquest, in Northallerton, that he was travelling with his wife behind Miss Langdale.

He said: “There was a car coming from Darlington and I said to my wife that whoever was driving had lost it.

“The car was going towards one side of the road and then back across to the other side.”

Miss Raimondi was due to marry in January this year.

She leaves a four-year-old son and an eight-year-old son.

She had watched her fouryear- old in a nativity at Darlington College’s Childcare Centre just before the crash.

Police said the reason Miss Raimondi had lost control of her car was unknown.

They said skid tests had revealed the weather conditions had not played a part in the accident.

Coroner Michael Oakley recorded a verdict of accidental death.