A PENSIONER who was crushed to death under the wheels of a refuse truck in Wimborne Square was in town to withdraw money ready for a two-week cruise.

Betty Hunt, 82, who was walking with the aid of a stick when tragedy struck at lunchtime on Thursday, lived alone in a flat in Grenville Road, Wimborne.

Mrs Hunt had told neighbours that she was looking forward to her annual cruise, which she was due to take with a friend at the weekend.

It is believed that she had been withdrawing money from a cash machine, when the tragedy happened.

However an inquest will be held into the circumstances leading to her death.

Nextdoor neighbour Anita Berry, told the Daily Echo: "She was very excited about going on the cruise and was supposed to have left at the weekend with a friend. She had to go with someone else because of her arthritis, which meant she could not lift her bags. We were supposed to look after her house while she was away.

"It was awful news to hear just after we got back from our holidays."

Another neighbour, said: "Betty was always very energetic and she still went to fitness classes in the town despite her arthritis."

Calls for the square to be pedestrianised following Mrs Hunt's death have been met with scepticism from the town's traders who say that that business is already tough.

Mrs Hunt, who was separated from her husband, died after a collision with a refuse truck near the King's Head Hotel.