A coroner has ruled that a woman "appeared to step out into the road without looking" moments before she was run over by a double-decker bus.

Jane Hayward, 69, who was an actress, was struck by the bus in Rickmansworth town centre on Saturday June 15.

An inquest at Hatfield Coroners Court today heard Mrs Hayward was pulled under the wheel of the vehicle and that she died from multiple traumatic injuries at the scene.

Coroner Geoffrey Sullivan was told it was just after 2.30pm on the afternoon of June 15 as the actress walked eastward on the pavement of the High Street towards the junction with Station Road.

She was in a brown coat and wearing a brown hat with a wide brim.

Approaching the junction in the road was the double decker Arriva bus which had eight passengers on board.

The High Street and Station Road were part of a one way system through Rickmansworth.

The inquest heard the junction was controlled by traffic lights which allowed pedestrians to cross over the road and the one way system meant the bus had to turn left into Station Road.

The coroner was told that a police investigation into the death had established that as the driver of the bus approached the junction the lights had turned green and he had begun the manoeuvre to turn left.

It was described in court today as a "tight turn" and the bus was moving at just 5mph as it moved slowly into Station Road.

Bus driver Gavyn Young had almost completed the turn when he heard a noise and passengers on board shouted for him to stop.

He got out of the bus and in a statement he made which was read to the court, he said he could see the arm of the woman sticking out from underneath the vehicle

Mrs Hayward who lived in Ferndown, Northwood, had been dragged under the front nearside of the bus.

Witness Chris Mundy told the Observer in June how he held the hand of Mrs Hayward, while waiting for the emergency services to arrive.

He added at the time that he wanted her family to know "she was not alone" when she died.

Watford Observer:

A tribute left at the scene by the Mundy family

CCTV camera footage was examined by the police investigators which established on reaching the junction, she had walked out into the road despite the fact the traffic lights were green.

It could also be seen that she was looking to her left into Station Road and the bus was coming from her right.

The inquest was told the police had concluded the bus had been driven in the correct manner that day as it negotiated the left hand turn.

The coroner recorded a verdict that death was due to a road traffic collision.

He said: "She walked out into the road and was sadly struck by the bus. It seems she stepped out without looking and was struck."