The wedding of an Oxfordshire couple ended in tragedy after the bride's grandmother was killed in a car crash on her way home.

Annie Stuart-Boyack, 71, of Elderslie, near Glasgow, who was known as Nan, died after the car, in which she was a passenger, plunged down a 15ft embankment on the M40 just north of Banbury on Sunday.

She was one of four people in the car. Her great-grandson, Kieran, two, who was also in the car, is still seriously ill in intensive care and granddaughter Angela McGivern is being treated in hospital.

Annie's husband George, 73, is recovering from his injuries and was expected to be out of hospital soon.

Hours before the accident, the family had been celebrating as Mrs Stuart-Boyack's granddaughter, Joanne Murphy, tied the knot with David Page at St Mary's Church in Uffington, near Wantage.

The bride, who is the daughter of Caroline and Joe Murphy, of Courtney Road, Wantage, was told about the accident before leaving for her honeymoon.

Mrs Stuart-Boyack's son, George Boyack, said his mother had really enjoyed herself at the wedding.

He said: "We had a wonderful time that night. "The family had a great day. She was fun and we were dancing. We've a lot of good memories.

"She was a good mother, a good grandmother. She had a wonderful life."

He said that his mother, who was originally from Paisley, Scotland, had also been a keen member of the Salvation Army.

The bride and bridegroom had considered abandoning the holiday, but the bride's grandfather urged her to go.

Mr Boyack added: "They weren't going to go but my father insisted. It would have been what she wanted."

"He said: 'Your grandmother would not have wished anything else. She was not one for grieving'."

Mrs Stuart-Boyack had three daughters, two sons, 10 grand children and two great children, who had all joined her for Saturday's wedding.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident, which happened just over the county border in Warwickshire.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.