A PEDESTRIAN was killed after an elderly motorist accidentally accelerated into her path.

The driver's foot slipped as she was trying to brake, an inquest was told.

Antonia Basile suffered multiple injuries when the automatic Ford Fiesta, driven by Mary Constance Nicholson, shot forward on an unmade track, alongside shops at Blue House Buildings, Carrville, near Durham, and struck her.

Mrs Basile was thrown on to the bonnet, then rolled off, before being driven over by the car, which came to rest on nearby wasteland after hitting a tree,

The 69-year-old widow, of Bek Road, Newton Hall, Durham, was certified dead shortly after arrival at the city's Dryburn Hospital, on June 17.

Following the accident, 85-year-old Mrs Nicholson, who has a 47-year clean motoring record, voluntarily surrendered her driving licence.

The inquest, in Durham, was told Mrs Nicholson accepted her foot slipped from the brake on to the accelerator as she approached Mrs Basile, who was walking to the nearby shops with her cousin, Tina Bushby.

Mrs Nicholson told police at the scene: "I tried to brake, but I hit the accelerator."

In a subsequent police interview, read at the hearing, Mrs Nicholson said: "My foot slipped. I was shaken and I panicked.

"I'm devastated by the accident and I'll never get over it. I'm depressed and I'll never leave my house."

Mrs Nicholson, of Rainton Gate, near Durham, has not been charged over her driving in the incident.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, deputy North Durham coroner, Brenda Davidson, said: "It is a tragic accident and the error admitted to by the driver of the vehicle is the direct cause of the accident."