Pedestrian died in Chalfont St Peter waste lorry crash

A driver only realised he had hit a pedestrian when people shouted and pointed at the woman trapped underneath his waste lorry, an inquest heard.

Pauline Bannerman, 71, died after being hit by the lorry when she stepped out in front of it to cross the road in Chalfont St Peter, a court was told.

Two witnesses told Beaconsfield Coroner's Court Mrs Bannerman did not appear to look before crossing.

The mother-of-three died of multiple injuries at the scene on 7 November.

Witness Christopher Aldrich told the court there was "no way the driver could have seen [Mrs Bannerman] due to the size of her and the size of the truck".

"I cannot see the driver was at fault at all. The vehicle was hardly moving," he said.

William Fildew, who was driving the Serco waste collection lorry, told the court he had slowly pulled out of Church Lane and onto Market Place when the collision happened.

He said he heard an air leak from the front of the cab so decided to drive to a parking space nearby to check what the issue was.

However, as passers-by began shouting at him and pointing to his rear wheels he stopped the lorry and got out of the cab, immediately realising what had happened, the court heard.

Mrs Bannerman had crossed at a roundabout rather than using two pedestrian crossings nearby, the inquest was told.

Thames Valley Police collision investigator Gary Baldwin told Mr Fildew he "would have had to have been very lucky to have seen her".

Senior coroner for Buckinghamshire Crispin Butler said that for the vast majority of the lorry's manoeuvre, Mrs Bannerman would have been "invisible" to the lorry driver.

Mr Butler ruled Mrs Bannerman had died as a result of a road traffic collision.