The driver of a lorry which reversed over an elderly woman at the entrance to a York waste business told an inquest that he did not see her.

Adam Horsley said yesterday (March 28) that he failed to see Betty Elizabeth Smith before he started to reverse the lorry into the entrance of Martins of York, a skip hire and waste management company in Osbaldwick Lane.

He was, however, aware that she was in the area with another woman collecting firewood - as he had spoken to her before he entered the yard.

Mrs Smith had had a trolly full of firewood when he saw her, so he assumed she would be making her way back to the Osbaldwick traveller’s site where she lived.

The inquest heard on Monday (March 27) that the tragedy happened on January 29, 2020, when Mrs Smith, 73, was paying a regular visit to Martins, where she would collect free wood from bins left outside the entrance by staff.

She died after the lorry reversed over her.

Mr Horsley said he was using a lorry that he had years of experience with and he checked both his side mirrors at all times while reversing, although he could only look at one set of mirrors at a time.

He said his rear-view mirror was blocked by the skip the lorry was carrying, meaning he was reliant on the side mirrors.

The lorry did not have CCTV cameras allowing the driver to see behind the vehicle.

A reverse alarm was sounded as he entered reverse.

Assistant coroner Jonathan Leach asked Mr Horsley if he could see Mrs Smith before reversing. He replied:  “Not at all. I think she was only a little lady.”

On when he became aware that he had hit her, he said: “I felt a nudge behind me.

“I just thought there was something on the floor.”

He said it was not uncommon for waste to be on the ground at the entrance.

He said: “I felt I hit something. Then I heard someone shout ‘stop, go forward’ and I went forward.”

The inquest also heard from Mrs Smith’s niece who was with her before the tragic incident.

In an interview conducted by police read at the inquest, she said Mrs Smith had no issues with her hearing or sight and was a slow walker.

She said the pair would walk to Martins of York every day from their homes for firewood but would not usually enter the site.

A Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedic who attended the scene after the accident said he could not detect Mrs Smith’s pulse when he arrived and her airways were blocked.

The inquest is due to conclude today.