The two women who died in the A47 Acle Straight collision have been named.

Mary Matthews and Myra Green were pronounced dead at the scene after the car they were travelling in collided with a van on the notorious nine-mile stretch on Monday (March 2).

They were aged 76 and 78, and both lived in Beighton, near Acle.

Mrs Matthews' husband Ed Matthews, a Beighton parish councillor, said the two friends had been returning home from a shopping trip in Great Yarmouth.

He said everyone in the village had nothing but good things to say about his wife, adding: "Everyone looked upon her as a mum."

The churchgoing couple had been married for 25 years and have four children between them.

Mr Matthews said he had also lost his first wife to a road traffic accident in 1982, adding: "I don't even know where to begin. That road has claimed too many lives."

He said Mrs Green was "the sweetest person" who visited a Bradwell care home regularly to do residents' hair.

Her family were in the Oxford area, he added.

Norfolk Police have appealed for witnesses and dash cam footage in the aftermath of the collision between Mrs Green's pink Nissan Micra and a white Fiat Ducato van travelling in the opposite direction towards Great Yarmouth at around 4.50pm.

The van driver, a 52-year-old man, sustained minor injuries and was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

He has since been released under investigation as inquiries continue but remains a person of interest.

The incident sparked a large emergency response with multiple fire crews, ambulances, the air ambulance, and police rushing to the scene.

The road was closed until around 2.15am on Tuesday leaving bus passengers stranded for hours.

Brandon Lewis, MP for Great Yarmouth, offered his condolences.

He said: "I continue to work with councils, fellow MPs and other stakeholders to lobby for improvements to the whole A47.

"I have consistently argued that dualling the Acle Straight will be only be achieved once we have managed to improve the traffic flow within the town.

"This is why the Government's multi-million commitments to improving the Vauxhall roundabout and building the third river crossing are so important. They represent the final piece in the jigsaw."

A fully dualled A47 is considered vital to Norfolk's economy with this newspaper backing a Just Dual It campaign which calls on the Government to dual the Acle Straight.

A decision about which schemes will be funded is expected as part of the budget announcements.

Witnesses to the collision should contact the Serious Collision Investigation Team at Wymondham on 101 quoting incident number 336 of March 2.