A PENSIONER died after being hit by a car when she tried to cross the road at a broken set of traffic lights, an inquest heard.

Marisa Holt, from Twyford, was “on a collision course” with a car she stepped out in front of at the crossing near the entrance to Sainsbury’s supermarket in Winnersh on Friday, May 9.

She died from her injuries at the John Radcliffe Hospital 17 days later.

The hearing, at the Guildhall in Windsor, was told that the pedestrian buttons on the crossing failed that afternoon — leaving all the pedestrian lights red.

Mrs Holt, 76, had crossed and reached the safety of the island in the middle of the junction and waited 18 seconds before continuing to cross the busy road.

One car was waiting to turn right into the supermarket and as she stepped out, she was struck by a silver Honda Jazz which was going through a green light towards Wokingham.

Matthew Davey, head of highways and transport at Wokingham Borough Council, told the inquest that a fault with the pedestrian buttons had been reported on May 6 and the council’s contractor, Siemens, had inspected the crossing on May 7.

The engineer could not find a fault. Another was reported on May 8, but engineers did not return until May 12, when they reset the crossing.

He said: “It is not uncommon for faults with traffic signal units to be intermittent. They are often reliable but they do have faults within them.

“We had a good safety record at the crossing before this incident.”

Forensic collision investigator for Hampshire and Thames Valley Police, Tony Reading, said Mrs Holt and the driver, Peter Wheatley Price, may have been unable to see each other, leaving them “on a collision course”.

He said: “I tested all the pedestrian buttons, and the light stayed red. From my understanding Mrs Holt wasn’t a very tall woman, and the car could have impeded her view of the oncoming car.

“I managed to calculate the average speed of the oncoming car and it was 10mph below the 40mph speed limit.

“It was normal, perfectly acceptable, driving. This is not the case of a boy racer going through a set of traffic lights.”

Mr Wheatley Price, said: “Unfortunately I did not see her until she hit my vehicle. I cannot remember seeing a glimpse of her before.”

Medical reports said that Mrs Holt had suffered brain, spinal and rib injuries from the collision, which caused a stroke while she was in hospital.

Assistant coroner Michael Burgess recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.