HORROR struck in York city centre when an elderly woman died after a smash with a 26-tonne lorry in the middle of a busy shopping street.

Appalled passersby looked on in shock after the pensioner was pulled under the wheels of a food delivery vehicle in the middle of Pavement, near the Golden Fleece Hotel, at about 9.40am.

She was certified dead at the scene.

Daniel Barker, 16, from Tang Hall, York, was on his way to work when he saw the woman in the street and heard a loud crash.

He said: "I heard a big thundering on the floor. It was terrible."

Others described hearing a man frantically shouting "stop, stop" before the woman was knocked over.

Police said the accident happened when the woman, who was in the road, was involved in the crash with a lorry which had been parked but was in the process of setting off.

She was said to be from the York area.

The lorry was a David Price Food Services vehicle.

Minutes after the accident, police cordoned off the street and traffic was diverted around the area for much of the day. Pavement was eventually re-opened at 3.30pm.

Tarpaulins were put up around the body with extra sheeting loaned by the council from local market stalls.

Meanwhile, a crowd of people had gathered in Shambles and in Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate to watch as emergency services dealt with the scene.

Keith Allen, 39, also from Tang Hall, heard the crash as the accident happened.

He said: "It brings home how impermanent things are and how fragile and vulnerable we are as humans.

"The sight we saw this morning will never leave us."

Passersby said a rug had been placed over the woman's body as she lay in the street.

Jim Stouph, owner of Fentons Greeting Cards and Gifts in Shambles, saw the aftermath of the accident from the upstairs of his shop.

"It's a shame in this day and age that these accidents do happen to elderly people it's bad enough to happen to anybody," he said.

Mike Brown, from Triangle a web agency based in Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate said the accident was "waiting to happen", saying the number of lorries that used the narrow Pavement street was dangerous.

Most of them were Marks & Spencer lorries making deliveries.

"I've been saying for some time that it was just an accident waiting to happen," he said. "I have seen lots of near misses outside there.

"It just causes huge congestion as well, if nothing else.

"It's horrific what happened we had a pretty grim view of it."

A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer said: "Although Marks & Spencer was not involved in this, we were very saddened to hear of this tragic incident. We have strict delivery time slots for our Pavement site that are set by the council, which we have adhered to for many years. The deliveries are made either early in the morning or late in the evening and never in the middle of the day."

The store was cordoned off inside at its Pavement exit while emergency crews dealt with the accident outside.

Paul Martin, operations director for David Price Food Services, said the lorry driver was "in a hell of a state".

"We are all deeply shocked here," he said. "We're running a professional company here and something like this really does shock us.

"Our sympathy goes to the family of the lady.

"We're all shocked by it and trying to make sure we give the police everything they need."