Inquest opened into death of Eileen Brennan in Darlington bus tragedy

Deputy Coroner Oliver Longstaff ruled that the body of the 82-year-old grandmother could now be released to her family so they can start funeral arrangements.

Mrs Brennan died last Thursday after a bus left the road and smashed into the Halifax Bank, in Darlington Town Centre.

The inquest will resume after police investigations into the crash have come to a conclusion.

Mr Longstaff adjourned the inquest at Crook Coroners Court and said the case could re-open in September.

The 52-year-old bus driver, from Darlington, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following the incident which left several others injured as well as claiming the life of Ms Brennan.

He has been bailed until mid-August pending further investigation.

Eileen Brennan's daughter, Julie Wakeford, left, with The Reverend Sheilagh Williamson, Mayor Brian Jones and Mayoress Doris Jones at the service

On Monday friends and family of Mrs Brennan joined Darlington residents in the town centre for a service to pay tribute outside the Halifax Bank in Northgate, where she died.

Mourners gathered under umbrellas as the Reverend Sheilagh Williamson said prayers for Mrs Brennan and her family.

Darlington Mayor Councillor Brian Jones also attended the service, during which he thanked the emergency services and local businesses for the way they came together to help Mrs Brennan and each other last Thursday.

He said: “I would also like to convey my deepest condolences on behalf of the council to Mrs Brennan’s family.”

Joyce McGregor and Catherine Dunne say Mrs Brennan would have been amazed by the support for the memorial service

Afterwards, as people read floral tributes left outside the bank, Mrs Brennan’s two friends, Catherine Dunne and Joyce McGregor, spoke of their shock when they heard she had died.

Ms Dunne said: “I kept ringing Eileen to see if she was alright but, obviously, I didn’t get a reply. It was such a shock when I realised it was her.”

Mrs McGregor said Ms Brennan was a quiet, unassuming woman who would have been amazed that so many people had turned out to pay their respects.

She said: “She had a great sense of humour and she would have been thrilled at all of this.’’

Road safety campaigners claim the death of Mrs Brennan was "an accident waiting to happen".

The crash, which also injured several other people, has reignited a long-running debate around bus routes through the centre of Darlington.

Bus routes around the crash site on Northgate have long been the focus of campaigners’ efforts to improve safety in the area.

On the same spot in 2011, a runaway Arriva bus careered past the Halifax bank and Boots before crashing through two bollards and ploughing into a pedestrian area packed with shoppers, missing them by inches.

That incident reopened a debate over whether buses should be allowed to use roads so close to a busy shopping area and whether speed limits should be lowered.

Following the death of Mrs Brennan, campaigners have again called for further safety measures in the area.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Darlington MP Jenny Chapman also spoke of the need to readdress the issue with bus routes: "I think that our aim should always be to keep pedestrians and traffic as far apart from each other as is possible.

"There are going to be problems when we have a bus route like that near a natural point for pedestrians to get between Marks and Spencer and the Cornmill Centre.

"We don’t know what happened in this instance but we need to look closely at this as we can’t just write it off as a coincidence.

"Everyone will want to understand what has happened here and do everything possible to prevent future accidents in this or any other location in Darlington town centre.

"This incident has been absolutely horrendous – it could have been any one of us.

"To go out to do some shopping and to never come home again is horrific and I cannot imagine how devastated this lady’s family must be."