THE heartbroken daughters of a woman killed while crossing a road say they can never forgive the driver involved in the accident.

Marie Strevens, 53, of Meads Avenue, Sittingbourne, was crossing nearby Quinton Road, with her 11-year-old granddaughter Nichola when the tragedy happened. Nichola survived the crash but is still having physiotherapy for a broken leg.

Driver Lorraine Hannah, 36, who lived in Quinton Road at the time of the accident, but has since moved to Sheerness, told an inquest she had not seen the pair crossing the road. She knew the road well and believed she had done everything right that night. She said her heart went out to Mrs Strevens' family.

But Mrs Strevens' daughters, Heather Hackett and Mandy Strevens, 23 and 29, from Rainham, said Mrs Hannah had wiped out their mother's life.

Miss Hackett said: "Her heart may go out to us but we cannot forgive her, even seven months down the line. Instead of celebrating my son Justin's first birthday on Christmas Eve and looking forward to the New Year, we were making funeral arrangements for our mother."

She said her disabled brother Keith, who has no speech, blamed himself for the tragedy. Mrs Strevens and Nichola had taken him back to the bus stop on the other side of Quinton Road to wave him off on his return to a complex in Folkestone, where he lives, when the accident happened.

Miss Hackett, who lived with her mother before her death but has since moved in with her partner Matthew and sister, said her daughter Nichola had no recollection of the accident.

She added: "Neighbours really rallied round after the tragedy and paid for a new bike for her, which she is hoping to ride soon after all the physiotherapy."