THE driver of a bus which hit a man who was crossing the road, has described the incident as ‘an accident waiting to happen’.

Thomas ‘Tommy’ Unsworth, aged 80, died two-and-a-half weeks after being struck by the 524 single-decker bus in Bolton town centre.

Mr Unsworth, who was blind in his right eye, had been drinking in a nearby pub on the evening of January 28, last year, when he walked into Great Moor Street, close to the junction with Bradshawgate.

The crossing’s lights for pedestrians were on red at the time, and the bus had the right of way, an inquest heard yesterday.

He was hit by the bus as it was finishing its turn into the corner, knocking him down and he suffered a head injury.

He suffered bleeding on the brain and a fractured skull and never recovered after being taken to Salford Royal Infirmary, where he died on February 13.

The court heard that the bus driver, Carol Heeney, an experienced driver and employee of First Greater Manchester, had her vision blocked by the internal structures of the vehicle she was driving, as well as street furniture and buildings around the junction.

No criminal charges were brought against Miss Heeney, who gave evidence in the inquest into the death of Mr Unsworth, a former coal worker and labourer who lived in Division Street, Great Lever.

At Bolton Coroner’s Court, Miss Heeney explained how she checked all her mirrors and the blind spot over her right shoulder before making the turn into Great Moor Street from Bradshawgate when the traffic lights turned to green, believing the crossing to be clear.

She said: “It was raining heavily and it was very dark, and the street lighting wasn’t good.

“There were a lot of shadows and I couldn’t see very well.”

As she was completing the turn, the driver checked in her near-side wing mirror “for maybe one or two seconds” to make sure the back of the vehicle would not hit the railings next to the road.

She first saw Mr Unsworth when she looked back and it was too late to stop, hitting the pensioner at around three to four miles per hour.

The investigating police officers confirmed Miss Heeney’s vision would have been impaired by the lighting and weather conditions, and that because of the wide angle of the bus’s turn she could not have seen Mr Unsworth until the collision, or until immediately before it.

Miss Heeney added: “I didn’t see him when I did my checks, he was on the blind side of my near corner.”

She said she had previously questioned the position of bus stops and crossings at work, in staff comment boxes.

“This one in particular was just an accident waiting to happen,” added Miss Heeney.

Jennifer Leeming, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, recorded that Mr Unsworth's death was caused by a head injury as a result of a road traffic collision.

Offering her condolences to members of Mr Unsworth’s family present in court, she also said it was her duty to report her concerns about the layout of the junction in question.

She said: “I will be writing a report to the relevant authority and must draw attention to the position of the crossing.

“There are other people more qualified than me to say whether or not moving the crossing would make the junction any safer, but it must be looked at.”

Mrs Leeming then echoed the words of investigator Sgt Westhead, who said: “I would much rather prevent a death than have to investigate one.”