THE FAMILY of an elderly pensioner who was accidentally knocked down and killed in a doctor's surgery car park by her own husband have spoken of their grief.

Mary Parkes, 84, was about to collect her monthly prescription when 85-year-old William pressed the accelerator by mistake and shot backwards in the family car.

Mrs Parkes suffered a number of serious injuries in the collision, one of which was a fractured skull which caused a fatal bleed on her brain.

Her husband of 64 years told a coroner he had no idea what had happened in the split second before his wife was knocked down.

A statement from her family reads: "Mary was always and ever the heart of the family, and infinitely precious to her devoted husband of 64 years, William.

"Mary is survived by, and sorely missed by her family; four children, six grandchildren, a great-grandson, son-in-law and daughters-in-law.

"The whole family are united in their support for William at this time of terrible loss.

"The family were determined that, as well as a focus for grief, Mary's funeral would be a celebration of her life."

Mr Parkes told the inquest at Reading Coroner's Court today it "felt like a nightmare" after he accidentally hit the accelerator pedal instead of the foot brake and hit his wife.

In a statement the 85-year-old said: "I was parking the car and it just ran away with me.

"I cannot understand what made me make that fatal error.

"I am devastated after 50 years of safe driving and 10 years of driving in that car. I have surrendered my driving licence and will never be able to drive again."

Assistant Coroner for Berkshire, Ravi Sidhu, heard that Mrs Parkes, of Leyburn Close, Woodley suffered several serious injuries as she was knocked on September 28.

A post-mortem examination found Mrs Parkes suffered bleeding on her brain after fractures to her skull, fractures to her ribs, and injuries to her vertebrae.

Bystanders at the Loddon Vale Surgery car park in Hurricane Way attempted to give her CPR but she was pronounced dead just before 6.30pm.

Andrew Evans, a police forensic collisions investigator, said their were no faults with the car.

"During the manoeuvre Mrs Parkes has been struck by the vehicle," he added.

"The circumstances in my opinion fit the definition of a spontaneous unintended acceleration due to Mr Parkes pressing the accelerator pedal on his Nissan."

In his conclusions Mr Sidhu said the collision was something Mr Parkes "never intended."

"You reversed your vehicle and it appears that in the process of doing that you collided with your wife'" he said.

"The vehicle then continued at some speed and collided with another vehicle. Regrettably the collision that occurred between your car and your wife caused her to fall.

"As to precisely how she injured her head and her chest is unclear. I cannot be sure if it was colliding with your vehicle or with the ground subsequently.

"Having colliding with your wife, and I doubt you would have been aware of this, what happened was you pressed the accelerator peddle because the vehicle shoots back and hits another vehicle.

"Tragic though the consequences were, and consequences and I have no doubt you continue to live with, it was an accident pure and simple."