A CORONER yesterday recorded a verdict of accidental death on a woman of 86 who died after she was run over by a tanker.

Hilda Morrison, of Kirk House, Romanby, North Yorkshire, died on April 1 as she crossed Springwell Lane, in Northallerton, near its junction with Romanby Road.

Yesterday, an inquest into her death at County Hall, Northallerton, heard that she was hit by a Bayford Fuels tanker being driven by John Riding, of Starmer Road, Darlington.

He had been driving the Volvo oil tanker along Romanby Road, towards the High Street, and was about to turn left into Springwell Lane to go to the company's depot when he noticed his supervisor, Keith Hemingway, waiting at the junction.

They stopped their vehicles and had a short conversation, before Mr Riding set off again.

Speaking at the inquest, Mr Riding said: "As I turned the corner, there was a bump. I thought it was a brick on the road or something. I stopped and she was there on the road."

Accident investigator PC Paul Davenport said it seemed that Mrs Morrison had started to cross the road in front of the tanker just before it set off.

He said there would be blind spots in front of Mr Riding's cab, made worse by the fact that Mrs Morrison was only 5ft tall.

She died of head and chest injuries.

Recording his verdict, Coroner Michael Oakley said: "It would appear that Mr Riding was unsighted at that critical moment, and Mrs Morrison has been effectively brought down by the movement of the Volvo."