A DRIVER faces prosecution after a road crash in which an 81-year-old pedestrian died.

Widow Jennie Dargue was only a metre away from the safety of the kerb when she was struck by a car as she crossed Woodhouse Lane, in Bishop Auckland, in darkness in March last year.

Witness Alan Hodgson told an inquest into her death yesterday that he saw her thrown into the air by the impact and land on the side of the road.

Shortly afterwards, the pensioner was certified dead at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

Earlier in the evening, she had left her daughter Pauline Whitehead's home in Escomb, and caught a bus which stopped outside Bishop Barrington School, on her way home to Dorset Place, in Henknowle.

Driver Colin Smith, of Murray Avenue, Woodhouse Close, told police he had not seen Mrs Dargue until she appeared in the headlights of his Rover 600.

He had been on his way home from collecting his 16-year-old son from a war games club at King James Community College.

Mr Smith exercised his right not to give evidence to the hearing, which took place at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court. He is due to appear before magistrates later this month to answer a charge of careless driving.

Darlington and South Durham Coroner Colin Penna recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mrs Whithead said later: "She was an active woman who loved to help people. She loved dancing and had just booked a holiday. She was very fit for her age."