Woman arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after female cyclist killed

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a 77-year-old female cyclist was killed last Wednesday.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary said that the woman who was arrested was not the driver of the Volkswagen Passat car that struck Celia Ward, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The collision happened on Nursery Road, Huntingdon, just before 2.30pm on the afternoon of Wednesday 20 October.

Police said that the woman who had been driving the car was uninjured and remained at the scene.

The 46-year-old woman who was arrested is from Huntingdon and has been released under investigation police are continuing their enquiries.

Anyone who has information is urged to contact police on 101, quoting incident number 243 of 20 October, or the charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

In a statement published in the Peterborough Telegraph, Mrs Ward’s family said: “Celia was a 23-year-old, nurse, midwife and ward sister when she married David Ward – a chemistry graduate and newly trained RAF pilot on 19 August 1967. Their first years of a happy marriage were spent in Germany where daughter Jill was born.

“On returning to the UK, they settled in Yorkshire before moving to Norfolk in 1978. There, Celia decided to take up part-time nursing at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn, then from 1986 at the newly opened Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon.

“Along the way she turned down several offers of promotion, much preferring the flexibility of part-time work and the opportunities to look after her family and raise her daughter. They were particularly proud to see Jill commissioned into the RAF as an ATC officer and later for her to marry Darren Hayter, another RAF pilot.

“Her family successfully raised, Celia retired in 1998 and, in 1999 her daughter Jill welcomed into the world Douglas Hayter with whom Celia enjoyed a lot of time playing games and fostering his sense of adventure.

“Always fit and healthy, Celia enjoyed skiing with David in the 1980s, both moving to more leisurely golf in the 1990s first at Lakeside Lodge then Brampton Park from 1995 until a few years ago. They enjoyed many golfing holidays in France and Portugal, and even when touring in the USA and Canada.

“Following David’s retirement in 2000 they took up cruising, visiting most parts of the world returning from the Arctic just as Covid-19 broke out. That led her to step up her other leisure pursuit of taking lengthy walks and cycle rides each and every day of the week.

“In summary Celia was a quiet, industrious and loving wife and mother, always the ‘doer not the talker’, never seeking the limelight. Having worked in the NHS for 25 years, she had brought babies into the world, nursed the chronically ill and seen death on many occasions.

“Her untimely death has robbed her of her dues and deprived David, Jill and Douglas of a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother,” they added.

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