A WOMAN who was found naked with severe burns at the side of a road has died in hospital.

Horrified drivers discovered 48-year-old Rukaiya Patel in Waters Meeting Road, Astley Bridge, on Friday afternoon after she had apparently set fire to herself.

She had struggled up steps to the road from a wooded area clutching a bottle of white spirit and a box of matches.

Mrs Patel, of Blackburn Road, Astley Bridge, was doused with cups of water grabbed from a nearby snack cabin and then covered with an overcoat until an ambulance arrived.

Motorists Denise Gleaves, and Syd and Dorothy Lomax used a mobile phone to get advice from an emergency services operator while they waited.

"She was completely burnt from head to toe," said Mrs Gleaves.

"It was a big shock and a terrible thing to see -- her skin was peeling off and her clothes were burnt away."

Mrs Patel was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital and then transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital's specialist burns unit.

She died in the intensive care unit at 5.30pm yesterday.

Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and the Bolton coroner has been informed.