Pedestrian 'hit by van' and killed at Ludgate Circus

A pedestrian was killed this morning near Ludgate Circus after a collision with a van.

The incident happened before 7am near the junction of Fleet Street and New Bridge Street, an area notorious for cyclist deaths.

London Ambulance Service confirmed that a man had died at the scene. City of London Police said: “We were called at 7.08am to New Bridge Street where a pedestrian had been hit by a van.”

A LAS spokeswoman said: “We were called at 6:56am to reports of a road traffic collision near Ludgate Circus.

“We sent two paramedics on motorcycles, an ambulance crew and an incident response officer to the scene. London’s Air Ambulance was also dispatched.

“Sadly despite the extensive efforts of our ambulance crews, a man died at the scene.”

The North-South cycle superhighway runs along New Bridge Street and Farringdon Street. Onlookers said the segregated two-way lane, which opened about 18 months ago, had made the “very busy” junction more dangerous.

One woman who works nearby said there had been eight pedestrian incidents ranging in severity in the last few months. “It can’t continue,” she said. “These deaths are avoidable.

“People hover near the traffic lights. There used to be an island in the middle where you could cross. Now it’s not obvious where the danger might be coming from. Often you see tourists jumping - they lose their judgement. It’s like a jinxed junction - it doesn’t work.”

Anthony Gale, a PR manager at Charities Aid Foundation, who saw the aftermath of today’s collision as he walked to work, said there were a lack of pedestrian crossings on the stretch of road between Blackfriars station and Ludgate Circus.

He said pedestrians often tried to cross at random points but could find themselves stuck on the narrow pavement “island” that segregates the superhighway from the main carriageway.

Mr Gale said: “Normally I cycle that route every day but I got the train this morning. I think the superhighway does make it better but it is the [Ludgate Circus] junction itself that is the problem, as the traffic lights all change together and the pedestrians walk diagonally across it.

“Yesterday a pedestrian was nearly hit by a cyclist. She was on her phone. She waited on almost identically the same spot [as today’s incident]. The cyclist had to swerve around her and the cyclist was quite irate about it.

“What happens is that because the crossings are quite far apart, people see a little island [the superhighway kerb] and they try to cross. That is a big issue. Often you see pedestrians on their phone waiting to cross.

“I think there is an issue with how packed the pavements tend to be. When pedestrians use the cycle lane they’re not necessarily aware of the cyclists - there can either be no cyclists or 40 or 50 cyclists coming towards them, because of the way they are held on Blackfriars Bridge. Everyone ends up crossing in a higgleldy-piggeldy way.”