A British woman has fallen 300ft to her death down an Italian mountainside in front of her husband and friends. Patricia Fletcher, 64, was killed instantly after she tripped along a path. Earlier reports had said she fell about 656ft. The tragedy happened on Sunday in front of her husband George and a group of friends while on the last day of their holiday.

Police have opened an investigation into Mrs Fletcher’s death, but it appears that she fell after slipping on a snow-covered path.

The husband was making arrangements to have his wife’s body flown to their home in Nantwich, Cheshire.

Mrs Fletcher fell at an altitude of 6,000ft on the Via Ferrata della Trincee, above Arabba, in the Dolomites.

The spectacular mountain chain straddles Italy and Austria.

The group were on a break organised by Collett’s which specialises in mountain holidays.

The climbs are of a medium difficulty and Collett’s website says: “Whilst a reasonable level of fitness, sure-footedness, awareness of alpine dangers and freedom from vertigo are important, most routes allow the ’man on the street’ to get further from the street than he ever thought possible.”

Tom Collett, managing director of Hertfordshire based Collett’s, said: “Basically she slipped on a path while she was with her husband and friends and her injuries from the fall killed her.

“The tragedy is that they had extended their 10-day holiday by a day so they could do this and they had actually been due to fly back the day it happened.”

Mr Collett added: “I have spoken to her husband and his daughter is flying out there to be with him — it was one of those conversations where it is difficult for words to flow but he was articulate and philosophical.”

Its website carries several photographs of the Via Ferrata which was originally built to move Italian military units in World War One.

Via Ferrata means iron road in Italian and the route is equipped with fixed cables, ladders, and gorge-spanning bridges.