A WOMAN who was killed in a motorway pile-up, which also left a man and a baby injured, was named as 25-year-old Diana Lesley Cross.

The three-vehicle crash, which brings the death toll on Oxfordshire's roads to 57 this year, closed the M40 for five hours on Saturday.

The pile-up means the number of road deaths in the county is now 17 higher than last year's total.

Traffic was thrown into chaos after the accident, which happened on the southbound M40 just after 7am, about a mile before junction nine at Bicester.

Police said Ms Cross's white Vauxhall Astra crashed into a green Ford Escort van which had hit the central reservation.

A red Rover then ploughed into the Astra.

Ms Cross was pronounced dead at the scene, while a one-year-old baby girl and a man, who were in the same car, were taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford with minor injuries.

The drivers of the other two vehicles were not believed to be seriously injured.

Oxfordshire ambulance service sent two ambulances, a solo responder and an ambulance officer to the scene.

Two fire engines from Bicester were also called and made the vehicles safe.

The motorway was closed between junction 10 at Ardley and junction nine at Bicester until just after 12pm, while accident investigators collected evidence and the vehicles were recovered.

Motorway traffic was cleared by directing it along the hard shoulder, causing lengthy delays on nearby roads including the B430 through Ardley and Middleton Stoney.

The pile-up is the latest in a string of fatal collisions on Oxfordshire's roads.

A 20-year-old cyclist died last Monday after a collision with a car in Wallingford Road, Cholsey.

The collision came a day after a fatal crash on the A415 near Abingdon, where a 58-year-old motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anyone with information on the M40 crash should call Bicester traffic police on 08458 505505.