A POLICE officer says he was never supplied with up-to-date figures on the safety of a stretch of road where a young Herefordshire woman died, an inquest heard.

Collision investigator Neil Taylor said he requested Herefordshire Council contractor Balfour Beatty carry out a new test on the wet skidding resistance of the A44 near Eardisland where 27-year-old Amethyst Young died last May after losing control of her car.

An inquest into her death, held at Hereford Town Hall this week, heard the last SCRIM (Sideway-force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine) test at the scene of her death took place in May 2014.

"I did make a request 48 hours after (the accident) that the road was SCRIM tested," he said.

"That was never done."

He said he couldn't be sure why Miss Young, a legal advisor from Lyonshall who was on her way to work in Leominster, lost control of her Renault Megane on May 18 last year.

One factor could have been a slippery surface as days of dry weather had been followed by a drizzly morning when the accident happened.

County coroner Mark Bricknell also said it was "disappointing" the SCRIM procedure wasn't carried out as it may have thrown up a defect in the road which was re-surfaced shortly after her death.

"We don't know what caused it but a SCRIM test may have identified the standard of the road," said Mr Bricknell.

"But, the surface of the road is only one of a number of possible causes."

Earlier in the hearing, Andy Williams, for Balfour Beatty, said police were sent the last SCRIM, from May 2014, which showed the 100-metre stretch was above the national investigation level.

However, a 10-metre section was "slightly below" the investigation level locally, but above the national level.

He said SCRIM's are carried out if there are three or more accidents within a 100-metre stretch of road over a five-year period. Figures sent to the police showed there had been accidents in that area in November 2011, December 2014 and January 2015, but they didn't trigger an investigation as one of the accidents was not in the "immediate location" of the others.

Miss Young's accident, however, did mean the stretch had become an 'accident cluster site' according to Herefordshire Council, prompting it to be re-surfaced with other safety measures included.

Asked why a SCRIM was not carried out straight after Miss Young's death, Mr Williams said it would have been "quite difficult" as the work is done by a contractor which schedules work around the year.

Miss Young's mum says her family is looking to take legal action against Herefordshire Council, saying they thought it strange remedial work was done straight after the accident.

"If the road was substandard, why wasn't it resurfaced before?" said Elysia Young after the hearing.

"I feel angry towards them. It feels like a cover up."

The cause of death was listed as massive head trauma with an antecedent cause of a road traffic accident.

Mr Bricknell recorded Miss Young died from a road traffic collision.