A LORRY driver fought back tears as he described the aftermath of an accident which left a cyclist dead at a busy Dudley junction.

Lorraine Rowson was killed at the junction of Burton Road and Eve Lane, Lower Gornal, at around 11.30am on August 8, 2014, when the bicycle she was riding was hit by a lorry driven by David Dudley, from Buttonoak, Bewdley.

An inquest at Smethwick Coroners Court on Tuesday, March 17, heard Mrs Rowson suffered fatal injuries to her chest and abdomen after being run over by the heavy goods vehicle which came to rest on top of her.

Mr Dudley said: “I felt a bump as I was slowly turning left and then I heard horns going off. As soon as I felt the bump I stopped.

“I got out of the cab and there was someone there and I asked what happened, and they said you have run over a pedestrian, and then somebody said it was a cyclist.

“I said where did she come from, I did not see her.

“The first axle went over her, and the second axle was resting on her side.”

Mr Dudley told how he moved his lorry off the fatally injured cyclist from Dudley, and walked away from the scene to a nearby car park.

He added: “A fire engine arrived and a fire fighter came up to me, I asked if she was alright, and he told me she was gone.”

The inquest heard 50-year-old Mrs Rowson rode her cycle along the inside of Mr Dudley’s lorry as he waited at a red traffic light.

When the lights changed, investigators believe she intended to cycle straight on and was in a blind spot in front of the truck, which meant Mr Dudley was unable to see her as he turned left.

Pc Karl Davies, a senior collision investigating officer, said: “Four independent witnesses and one expert stated Mr Dudley could do nothing to stop the collision.

 “The vehicle he was driving was in order and fit for purpose.”

Zafar Siddique, senior coroner for the Black Country, said: “Mrs Rowson was an experienced cyclist and had just finished work, and was travelling to another location.

“Mr Dudley was an experienced HGV driver and had been using this particular lorry regularly for a while.

“He had indicated to turn left at the junction, started to make his turn when he struck the cyclist causing her to go underneath the lorry.”

He concluded Mrs Rowson died from multiple injuries to her abdomen and chest caused by a road traffic collision.