THE driver of a people carrier that hit and fatally injured an elderly pedestrian told an inquest she did not see him at all before the impact.

Denise Cole, of West Moors, was behind the wheel of her Chrysler Voyager in Glenmoor Road, West Parley, when the collision happened just before 5.40pm on January 14.

She said it was dark and she had her dipped headlights on.

She noticed two cars parked on the left hand side of the road ahead of her and adjusted her position to pass.

A car in front of her turned right into Ellesfield Road and she was still in second or third gear when there was a loud bang and the left-hand side of her windscreen shattered.

“I thought someone had thrown a brick or a stone because it happened so quickly,” Mrs Cole told Bournemouth coroner’s court.

She got out of the car and walked around the back, then saw a man lying on the footpath.

Great-grandfather Leslie Young, 86, of Fitzpaine Road, had sustained multiple injuries, including fractures to his skull. He later died in hospital.

He had been at the back of his parked Vauxhall Cavalier.

The Chrysler then collided with the rear offside of the Vauxhall, pushing it into the back of a parked Renault Laguna.

Dorset police accident investigator John Hayward described the street lighting in the road as “poor” and said an error on Mr Young’s part could not be ruled out.

District coroner Sheriff Payne noted that there were no direct witnesses and recorded the verdict that Mr Young’s death was due to an accident. After the inquest, his widow Shirley said the family were “very disappointed” to be told three weeks ago that there would be no prosecution arising from her husband’s death.

Parkstone-born Mr Young had six children from two marriages and ran a garage in St Swithuns Road, Bournemouth, until 20 years ago.

He worked at Abbey Life and the Shaftesbury Society, and remained very active with gardening, playing snooker and helping out other people in the community