A student was fighting for her life yesterday after being crushed by a runaway council van five days into her university career.

The accident happened on the steeply sloping cobbled streets under the shadow of Durham Cathedral as the girl was walking home with a group of friends.

A workman with Durham City Council had parked his van beside Palace Green, the grassed area in front of the 900-year-old cathedral.

He left it briefly while he locked the toilets on the green but as he was doing so the van began to roll backwards.

It ran for just over 30 yards, gathering speed down Owengate, which leads to the city centre.

Two undergraduates, both young women aged aged 18 and 19, were struck as they walked along the footpath as part of a group.

The 19-year-old suffered minor injuries but her friend was pinned against the wall of number seven Owengate by the van.

She suffered severe, multiple injuries and was rushed to the intensive care ward at the University Hospital of North Durham.

Her parents, who are from the Derby area, were contacted by university staff and rushed to her bedside.

The girl, who is studying a science, had been at Durham five days and had attended her first lectures on Wednesday morning, hours before the accident at 6.30pm.

She and her new friends from the course then visited the cathedral area and were making their way home when the accident happened.

A police spokesman said: "We are investigating the cause of the accident and we would like anyone who witnessed it call us urgently.

"The girl was in a serious condition in hospital and has injuries which are life threatening."

Durham University spokesman Keith Seacroft said: "This is a terribly shocking accident which has come in the first week of term.

"The student who was seriously injured is a first year and had been here only five days.

"It was the first day of lectures, which is an emotionally charged time for students anyway and this has left many of them distraught.

"Her parents were contacted very quickly after the alarm had been raised and they came to the hosptal where they were met by university reprasentatives."

Durham City Council spokeswoman Christine Holland said: "This is a shocking accident and all our thoughts go to the girls and their families and friends.

"We are immediately undertaking a full investigation into the circumstances of the accident and will be liaising with the police and other authorities."