A HEARTBROKEN family has paid tribute to a young mum who died in a crash which left her eight-year-old daughter fighting for her life.

Chloe Lloyd, 28, died at the scene of the horrific crash, which took place on the Upton bypass just before 9pm on Friday.

Daughter Lexi was airlifted to Southampton Hospital with very serious injuries and remains in a critical condition. Members of her family are by her side.

In a statement, their family said: "We are all absolutely heartbroken at the sudden loss of our beautiful Chloe and our sole focus at this time is to be with Lexi. We would ask for privacy at this very difficult time.”

Emergency services were called to the westbound carriageway of the A35 Upton bypass at around 8.50pm.

A silver Vauxhall Astra, driven by Chloe, had left the road and landed in a ditch just before the Baker's Arms roundabout.

Both the eastbound and westbound carriageways were closed between the Holes Bay and Baker’s Arms roundabouts. The closures were lifted at 7am on Saturday January 4.

Police Sergeant Sarah Jones, of the traffic unit, said: “Our thoughts remain with Chloe and Lexi’s family.

“Our investigations into this collision remain ongoing and I would again ask anyone who witnessed what happened and have not yet spoken to officers to please contact Dorset Police.

“We are carrying out a full and thorough investigation into this collision and I am keen to hear from anyone who was travelling along this stretch of the dual carriageway at the relevant time and witnessed the collision or the Astra being driven immediately before.

“I would also urge any motorists with dashcams fitted in their vehicles to please check their systems to see if they have any footage that may be relevant to my investigation.”

Police also thanked members of the public for their patience during the investigation.

“We closed this road to allow emergency services to treat those involved and for collision investigators to establish what happened. I would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding" said Sgt Jones.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police by calling 101, quoting incident number 3:418 or the free and anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.