AN off-duty policewoman told a coroner today she was driving within the speed limit when a man accidentally stepped in front of her Renault Clio.

Alan Constable, 67, of Taphouse Avenue, Witney, died at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, in February last year, three days after he was struck by the vehicle.

Mr Constable, who suffered severe injuries to his spine, head, legs and lungs, never regained consciousness following the accident.

At Oxford Coroner's Court, Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner heard evidence from people who saw the collision in Mill Street, Witney.

Eyewitness Simon Daughton, from Witney, said: "It all happened so fast, I saw him get hit by a red car coming the other way. He was thrown into the air and landed behind me."

Mr Constable's head struck the windscreen of the oncoming Clio and he was hurled back several metres.

Other witnesses told the inquest Mr Constable had not checked for oncoming traffic, while the driver of the Clio, off-duty officer Claire Patterson, also from Witney, said she had been driving under the 30mph speed limit.

She said: "My view of the man was blocked by the white van until he walked into my path. I remember hitting the brakes. The next thing the windscreen smashed."

The Clio's brakes had been in good working condition, a check showed.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Gardiner said: "Mr Constable emerged from behind a high-sided vehicle and stepped into the path of an oncoming car.

"Anyone coming from that direction wouldn't have been able to see him."