A PENSIONER who died after he was knocked down by a car in Padiham should have been seen by the driver, an inquest heard.

Douglas Wilkinson, known as Dougie, 77, of Hapton Street, was crossing Burnley Road in the town at about 7.30pm on Easter Sunday last year when he was hit by a green Honda Civic driven by Philip Joyce.

Mr Joyce, a security guard at Baxi Potterton at the time of the accident, was travelling home through Padiham after a 12-hour shift when he hit the grandfather near a pelican crossing. Mr Wilkinson, a father of three, later died from multiple injuries at Burnley General Hospital.

The inquest heard he crossed the road at the same place every evening, but that the lights were out for repairs. Barriers had been placed around the crossing point on the pavement and orange covers on the lights. ccident investigator PC John Sutcliffe said Mr Joyce was not speeding but did have time to see Mr Wilkinson crossing the road.

He said: "When he was struck he would have been in the road for eight or nine seconds and the car would have been about 110metres down the road and the driver of the car should have been aware Mr Wilkinson was in the road."

Mr Wilkinson left three children, sons Mark, 44 and Nigel, 49 and daughter Marilyn, 51, and five grandchildren, Craig, James, Kathryn, Siobhan and Corinne.

He was born in Colne, but spent most of his life in Padiham where he worked on the railways for almost 30 years before going to work as a security guard for Lucas until he retired.

He was a well-known face in pubs including the Tim Bobbin where he was going when the fatal accident happened.

Richard Taylor, East Lancashire Coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death and said: "There was nothing unusual about Mr Joyce's driving and the tragedy is that at some stage Mr Wilkinson stepped off the pavement and was struck by the car. For whatever reason they did not see one another."