A MAN has been charged with causing the death of an 84-year-old woman by careless driving while drunk.

John Richardson, 48, of High Road, Benfleet, was charged by Essex Police officers today following an investigation by the Serious Collision Investigation Unit into a fatality in High Road on Wednesday, December 30, 2015.

Richardson was charged with causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit of alcohol in connection to the death of 84-year-old Joan Gilbert.

He has been bailed to appear at Southend Magistrates’ Court on Monday, June 27.