A WOMAN well-known in horse-racing circles was killed after wandering down the middle of an unlit road late at night.

An inquest heard that Alison Abercrombie, 43, had been drinking and was involved in a row with her partner shortly before her death in Rastrick.

Coroner Roger Whittaker said there was no evidence to suggest she wanted to take her own life, and recorded a verdict that she had died as a result of a tragic accident.

Divorcee Mrs Abercrombie suffered severe head and rib injuries when she was struck by a Rover ZR car on New Hey Road at 10.30pm on May 12 last year.

Tests later showed she would have been about three times over the drink-drive limit when the tragedy happened.

She was declared brain dead in Huddersfield Royal Infirmary two days later and her life support machine was switched off.

Her heart, liver, kidney and spleen were removed as donor organs in accordance with her wishes.

Mrs Abercrombie - whose maiden name was Dean - was born and educated in Rastrick before leaving as a teenager to become a stable girl for top racehorse trainer Henry Cecil at his Newmarket stables for 20 years.

She was the first female groom to lead a Derby winner into the winner's circle at Epsom.

The winning horse was Reference Point, who triumphed in 1987.

She moved back to Rastrick when she divorced in 2003 and her 14-year-old daughter lives with her former husband.

Mrs Abercrombie, who had suffered from depression, and her new partner went for a night out.

He was not named in court and did not give any evidence.

A taxi driver said she had clearly been drinking when he took the couple to the Nag's Head pub and restaurant at Ainley Top for a meal at about 7pm.

Mr Majid Ali, of Shipley - who was working as a taxi driver in Brighouse - said: "I felt she had been drinking. She was not making much sense in what she was saying."

Nag's Head waitress Emma Noble said Mrs Abercrombie and her partner drank a bottle of red wine with their meal, but argued throughout it.

She later saw Mrs Abercrombie sobbing at the bar alone.

She asked Miss Noble to call her a taxi, which she did, but was disappointed when told it would take about 15 minutes to arrive.

Five minutes later Mrs Abercrombie left the pub.

She was seen a short time later walking down the middle of an unlit section of New Hey Road.

Douglas Bean, of Rutland Road in Longwood, was in a car travelling up the road from Rastrick to Ainley Top.

He said: "I could not believe my eyes. She was walking in the middle of the road."

Moments later she was struck by another car going the other way.

The driver, Tony Fawcett, of Illingworth, Halifax, said he braked hard the moment he saw Mrs Abercrombie in the road, but had no chance of avoiding her.

In a police statement he said: "She was just in the middle of the road facing the other way."

Police accident investigation expert John Green said skid marks showed the car to be going at least 41mph in the 60mph zone - well under the speed limit.

There was a pavement by the side of the road all the way down to Rastrick.

Mr Whittaker said: "Although there was evidence of depression and problems that night, there is nothing that would lead me to the conclusion that she intended to take her life in such a bizarre way."

He said the amount of alcohol Mrs Abercrombie had drunk would have affected her balance, co-ordination and judgement.

He assured Mr Fawcett that he had done everything he could have to avoid the accident and was entirely blameless.