An 85-year-old womn died from multiple injuries after being struck by a HGV lorry, an inquest in Woking ruled on Monday.

Audrey Tucker, from Haslemere, died last year on October 14, after she was knocked down by a Jewson lorry pulling away from the traffic lights at Lion Green in Wey Hill, as she crossed the A287 on her way home from Tesco.

She was taken by air ambulance to St George’s Hospital, Tooting, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

In a statement read out by the coroner, eyewitness Ian Howick said: “I saw a lady walking away from me.

“I thought she was very close to the curb and lorry. The lights then turned green and the lorry pulled away slowly. The driver was unaware and continued driving. I pulled in front of the lorry and shouted ‘you have just ran over someone’.

“The driver could not believe he ran someone over. He said: ‘I did not know, I did not know’ and then thanked me for stopping him.

“I do not think the driver had done anything wrong.”

The inquest heard the driver had been driving HGVs for more than 25 years.

Mrs Tucker, a former social worker, had moved to Haslemere only six months earlier to be nearer her family.

Her daughter, Susannah Schofield, described her as “fiercely independent”. Her family added a floral tribute to the many bouquets laid at the scene of the incident with a note thanking people for their help on the day, which read: “Audrey valued the sense of community she found each day.”

“She would have been touched by this display of flowers.”