THE driver of a car which was in collision with an 89-year-old man on a mobility scooter could do nothing to avoid him, an inquest heard.

Charles Lumb, of Brunshaw Road, Burnley, died two months after the collision at the junction of Brunshaw Road and Harry Potts Way on 24 November last year.

Three witnesses told an inquest at Accrington Town Hall yesterday that Mr Lumb, of Brunshaw Road, Burnley, went straight out into the road in his scooter without looking.

He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital suffering from a broken neck, broken back and broken pelvis. He died in hospital on January 22 this year.

Judith Lord, who was in a car waiting at the junction, said Mr Lumb had gone to cross the road at speed and didn’t look for oncoming traffic.

She said: “As soon as I saw him I knew there was going to be a collision. There was nothing the driver could do.”

Mr Lumb was discharged to Accrington Victoria Hospital for rehab on New Year’s Eve.

On January 4 his condition deteriorated and he returned to Royal Blackburn and was found to be suffering pneumonia.

In the early morning on January 22 he accidentally pulled a feeding tube from his stomach which caused acute pancreatitis. He died later that day.

His son Phillip Watson said: "My dad was particularly active and could walk several miles per week but on other days he needed help and used the scooter.

“He didn’t understand or remember why he used the scooter that particular day, but he remembered everything up to the point of impact. He vaguely remembered entering the carriageway.”

Mr Watson questioned the decision to discharge his dad for rehab, but Dr Fouad Sadik Saied Al Ani, from Royal Blackburn Hospital, said treatment for the chest infection could have continued while he was having rehab.

Michael Singleton, coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said that Mr Lumb had essentially had two accidents, the crash and the tube coming out.

The driver was not called to give evidence at the inquest.