A woman driver has become the latest fatality on Oxfordshire roads after a two-car smash near Bicester yesterday morning.

Another man was seriously injured in the crash, which has seen the county's road death toll for this year hit 53 - 13 more than last year's total.

Yesterday's accident happened at 8.10am on the B4011 near Bullingdon Prison, just outside Bicester when the woman's red Volkswagen Polo and the man's maroon BMW estate collided.

Paramedics declared the woman dead at the scene. The man was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The man had to be cut free from his car by fire crews from Kidlington and Bicester.

Kidlington station manager Simon Belcher said: "His car had rolled into a ditch and the car had impacted on him.

"We took him out of the back window - the crash appeared to be head-on."

The crash is being investigated by police, but Mr Belcher said it had not seemed foggy or wet when the emergency services arrived.

He added: "Our message to drivers across Oxfordshire is slow down and think.

"Too many needless crashes are caused by drivers driving too fast and too close.

"If the weather is wet and visibility is low, leave longer gaps between vehicles."

Watch manager Darran Hookway, from Kidlington Fire Station, said: "This reinforces our determination to reduce deaths on the road as part of our 365 Alive campaign.

"We hope our safety campaigns and proactive measures will ensure that, by the year 2016, there will be 365 people alive who would otherwise have been killed by fires or road crashes."

The road was closed for almost five hours as officers from Thames Valley Police and Bicester-based Ministry of Defence Police investigated the scene and recovered the cars.

Police spokesman James Clements confirmed that the driver was from Oxfordshire, but said he could not release her identity until relatives had been informed.

Police have also appealed for witnesses. Anyone with information should contact Pc Andrew Sharman, of Bicester Roads Policing, on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.