A 13-year-old boy has been killed after a car ploughed into him as he waited for his bus to school.

Elliot Davies, from Blakeway near Wedmore, was waiting for his ride to Kings of Wessex Community School in Cheddar by the side of the B3151 near Mudgley at 8am yesterday when he was struck by a Citroen Saxo car.

The car was travelling towards Glastonbury at the time of the horrific accident that later left the road between Wedmore and Westhay closed for most of the day.

Ford Focus spun off the road

The youngster suffered serious head injuries and was taken by Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance to the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Doctors battled for several hours to save him but he died at noon.

The tragedy has left staff and students at his school reeling.

A spokesman for Kings of Wessex said: "We are still coming to terms with what's happened ourselves."

The school, where Elliot was a Year 8 student, is expected to release a full statement today.

One parent, whose daughter is in the year below Elliot, said: "My daughter is very upset.

"I understand there was a special assembly where the pupils were told what had happened.

"Some of the children in Elliot's year were sent home and their parents had to come and collect them.

"From what I can gather, he was waiting for a bus on the main road when he was hit by a car."

Yesterday's crash was the second fatal road accident in Somerset in 24 hours.

A woman in her 70s died after suffering a suspected heart attack at the wheel of her car in Ilminster. She lost control of her Nissan Micra and drove into the front of Hannah May's hair salon in High Street at 10.30am on Tuesday.

Hairdresser Kerry Brunt said: "It was a real shock, there was only one of us in the shop at the time.

"There wasn't much damage to the shop because the door was already open so it just scratched the paint but I understand the lady just had a heart attack and died at the wheel, it is very sad."

Police confirmed they are investigating a sudden death and said the woman was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton where she was confirmed dead.

The Arctic weather led to a spate of accidents across the region. Police said icy roads have also caused "treacherous" driving conditions across Dorset with numerous traffic incidents on yesterday morning.

Twenty pupils were temporarily stranded when a single-decker bus they were travelling on collided with a Ford Fiesta on Rowlands Hill in Wimbourne.

No-one was hurt and a minibus took them to Queen Elizabeth's School in Wimbourne.

A woman was left shaken but unhurt when her Toyota car ended up on its side when it skidded on a roundabout in Boundary Lane, Ringwood.

Two lorries were stranded at the bottom of an icy hill on the A35 near Chideock and traffic was delayed until they got going again.

A Ford Focus also spun off the road at Ashley Heath roundabout near the turn off for Verwood.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information about the incident is asked to contact Avon and Somerset Constabulary's Collision Investigation Unit on 0845 456 7000.