Woman killed in central London rush hour cycle horror

A woman cyclist was killed when she was hit by a lorry during the rush hour in central London today as horrified commuters looked on.

The cyclist, who was in her mid thirties, was knocked off her bike by a tipper truck turning left onto Victoria Street.

Police and ambulance workers arrived within three minutes but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of a red and blue construction site lorry was interviewed by police but he was not arrested.

The street was closed in both directions after the incident at 8.25am causing huge traffic delays in central London.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said today he wants to ban HGVs from London unless they are fitted with cycle-safety measures, including 'skirts' and special mirrors.

Commuters told of their shock at the incident as they walked to work this morning a short distance from Victoira Station.

One, Robert Niven, wrote on Twitter: "Just walked passed a harrowing scene on Victoria street where a cyclist has been knocked down and unfortunately have lost their life."

After the incident the victim’s twisted red bike frame lay abandoned on the corner of Victoria Street and Palace Street, its front basket broken in two.

One witness, who works in a shop opposite and asked not to be named, said: "We heard a commotion and then all the sirens. More and more police kept arriving and the paramedics."

A security guard in a nearby office block who witnessed the accident said: "Some workers from the construction site rushed down to help the passers-by who had gone to the cyclist's aid. They came running down and did what they could until the paramedics arrived."

Both the cyclist and the lorry were believed to be turning left onto Victoria Street from Palace Street when the accident happened.

One witness said they had both stopped at a red light and were turning left after it turned green.

The bike is thought to have been caught under the wheels of the lorry.

One witness said the lorry was transporting waste from the Kings Gate residential development site.

Police said they knew the identity of the cyclist and they were trying to contact her family this morning.

After the incident scores of police officers lined Victoria Street which was closed from Palace Street up to Artillery Row.

Cyclists criticised conditions for cycling on Victoria Street on Twitter describing it as a race track where cyclists were at constant risk from builders’ lorries.

The woman is the second cyclist to be killed on London’s roads this year. Last year a total of 14 cyclists died in accidents in London.

Lorries make up just five per cent of traffic but account for about half of all cyclist deaths, with many riders crushed on the inside of trucks as they turn left.

The London Cycling Campaign said three quarters of all lorries involved in cycling deaths were from construction sites.

An LCC spokesman said : “We have been campaigning for all lorry drivers to receive cyclist awareness training. This is becoming more common but more still needs to be done.

“People should recognise that if you drive a 32 tonne truck in a big city you need extra knowledge of the hazards involved.”

In February father of four George Orrey, 56, died in an apparent hit-and-run in Leytonstone. Three people were arrested and are on bail pending the result of a police investigation.

A London Ambulance spokeswoman said: "We were called at 8.20 to reports of a road traffic collision on Victoria Street. We sent a motorcycle responder, an ambulance crew and a duty officer to the scene. The first arrived in 3 minutes. Sadly the patient was dead at the scene."