A baby died in a car crash after her mother tried to give her a dummy while her baby seat was not properly secured, an inquest has heard.

Annie Crawford took her eyes off the road in Suffolk for a split second when she reached for the dummy for crying 20 month-old Adela Mai.

She drove her VW Polo into the back of a Toyota Corolla, on the southbound carriageway of the A12 between Martlesham and Ipswich in Suffolk, at an impact at probably less than 30mph.

The collision triggered the airbag on her passenger side where Adela Mai was sitting in her child seat, which was not properly secured.

Although the youngster was properly strapped into her seat it was not secured by the car's seatbelt as required by law.

The youngster's neck was broken in the collision when her seat lurched forward - placing her directly over the airbag when it went off.

Accident investigator Roy Dade told Ipswich coroners' court that Mrs Crawford was probably going less than 30mph when she hit the rear of Julie Burch's Corolla.

By the time the police arrived the bloodied child's seat had been removed from the car and put on the roadside grass verge, possibly by her mother.

The baby was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where she was confirmed dead the next day.

The baby seat, made by Mamas and Papas, was examined and no faults were found.

It had a five point harness which was found securely attached.

However, the passenger seatbelt which would normally be used to secure the child seat was found hanging by the seat's left hand side.

It is not known how this became unattached and Mr Dade said that because of the car's age it gave the driver no warning when a seatbelt was not in use. New models of the car now have this feature.

Both vehicles were also examined and no faults were found with either car.

Two mobiles phones were found in the possession of Mrs Crawford, one on her person and the other in the passenger footwell. Both of these were found to not have been in used during the accident.

Mrs Burch and Mrs Crawford both suffered minor injuries in the collision and have recovered.

Suffolk Coroner Dr Peter Dean said: "We have a very sad situation where these injuries were caused from a road traffic collision.

"I am going to record a conclusion of road traffic collision in respect of this tragic death."