AN elderly woman died after she was knocked down when a milkfloat reversed into her, an inquest heard.

Kathleen Border, 93, of Redwood Lodge, Fareham, was walking from her home to the edge of her estate to be picked up by family when she was hit.

She died five months later in hospital.

An inquest in Portsmouth heard that the pensioner used a hearing aid and a walking frame and had lost sight in her left eye.

Milkman Roy Kent, 62, of Gosport, had just finished his deliveries in Northwood Square and had made his way back to his parked vehicle.

The inquest heard how he told police he had checked his mirrors and slowly started to reverse when he heard a scream and immediately stopped and went to Mrs Border's aid.

He said he had not heard his reverse parking sensor go off.

Mr Kent told the inquest he had seen Mrs Border prior to the collision, but had thought she would wait for him to go.

Mrs Border suffered fractures to her ribs, shoulder blade and pelvis in the collision at 9.15am on May 13 of last year.

She was admitted to Queen Alexander Hospital in Portsmouth before being transferred to the Gosport War Memorial Hospital.

There she picked up a secondary infection and died shortly afterwards on October 8.

The cause of death was bronchopneumonia as a result of fractures.

Collision investigator Sergeant Simon Brooks examined the vehicle.

He told the inquest that there was no visibility through the rear mirror but that a parking sensor would have sounded if it had detected an object or person within two metres of the vehicle.

He said if Mrs Border had been less than that distance away when the engine was started it would have immediately gone off.

But if she was more than two metres away as the vehicle approached her it would have gone off possibly too late for him to react.

South East Hampshire coroner David Horsley recorded an accidental death verdict.