A woman has tragically died after a horror crash on a busy road.

Police say they were called to a smash on the A737 near Howwood in Renfrewshire on Monday, September 23.

The force was alerted to the incident shortly after 3am. It involved a Mercedes A-class car and a MAN box van.

Officers also say several calls were made around the same time reporting six horses running loose on the road.

999 crews - including police and paramedics - raced to the scene.

However, sadly, a 59-year-old woman - who was a passenger in the Mercedes - was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, a 52-year-old man - who was the driver of the car - was raced to hospital.

Additionally, a 33-year-old man - another passenger in the car - and a 59-year-old man - who was driving the van - were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley for assessment.

On top of that, four of the horses died after being struck by vehicles but two were taken to safety.

Following the serious crash, the road was closed for several hours while an investigation was carried out.

It reopened at 2pm on Monday, September 23.

Sergeant Jack Swindells said: “We are providing support to the family of the woman who died as our enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances of this crash.

“We would appeal to anyone who was driving on the A737 on Monday morning around the time of the crash who either witnessed the crash take place or seen the horses running on the road.

"Anyone with dash-cam footage is also asked to please contact us as soon as possible.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 0291 of September 23.”