Pedestrian Elizabeth Giacopazzi, of Tweedmouth, died instantly when she was struck as she crossed the A1, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland.

She had been delivering gifts in the area.

Early on Christmas Day, a passenger was killed when he leaned out of a car window and hit his head on a tree.

West Midlands Police say two motorists died in the region on Christmas Eve

The accident happened at the Herriard Crossroads in Ellisfield, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, at 0140 GMT.

Police were still investigating the incident on Christmas night.

In South Shields, Tyne and Wear, a 10-year-old boy who suffered head and leg injuries in an accident involving a police car on Christmas Eve was "poorly" in hospital.

The youngster, who has not been named, is in intensive care at Newcastle General Hospital, where a spokesman said he was "poorly but stable".

In the West Midlands, two people died in separate road accidents over the holiday.

The first accident occurred on the A425 at Radford Semele early on Christmas Eve, said a Warwickshire Police spokesman.

Three-car pile up

Raymond James Morton, 29, from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, died when his black Ford Escort left the road after being involved in a head-on collision with a Renault 19.

The second motorist, who has not been named, died in a three-car pile up on the M6 near Rugby, Warwickshire, shortly before 1930 GMT on Christmas Eve.

Earlier in the week, a visit to Santa's grotto for a nine-year-old boy ended in tragedy when he was killed in a car crash on his way to Marwell Zoo near Winchester.

Patrick Kaye died when his family's Renault Espace was in collision with a lorry on the Spitfire Link Road near Winchester.

His mother, Philippa Kaye, of Frome in Somerset, who was driving, suffered head, spinal and internal injuries.

Fire deaths

Meanwhile, a joint police and fire investigation was launched after an elderly man died in a blaze at his home in Cambrian View, Blacon, Chester, shortly before 0530 GMT on 25 December.

And in Glasgow a 63-year-old man died in a Christmas Eve blaze in his tenement home, Strathclyde Police said.

Police discovered the body of John Leatham, at Stirlingfauld Place, in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, shortly after 1900 GMT.