A MAN was killed after he was struck by car just yards from his front door when he crossed the road to visit the newsagents, an inquest has heard.

Roger Cordery was crossing Church Road, Benfleet, to pick up a newspaper, which he did every morning, when he was hit by a Ford Fiesta at about 7.25am on Wednesday, December 14 last year.

The 73-year-old, who lived in nearby Grasmere Road, was taken to the Royal London Hospital by land ambulance in a critical condition but sadly died three days later.

Chelmsford Coroner’s Court heard yesterday how Mr Cordery was shunted into a parked BMW by the force of the impact.

A post-mortem revealed that he died from multi-organ failure as a result of multiple injuries.

The crash meant Church Road, outside Kingston Primary School, was closed for four hours while emergency services dealt with the incident and examined the scene.

Pupils from the school were sent home and the school was closed for the day.

PC Alan Barlow, from the forensic collision investigation at Essex Police, told the court that the Fiesta was travelling at 30mph at the time of impact and his research suggested that the crash could not have been avoided.

He said: “The damage to the Fiesta suggests that Mr Cordery was moving swiftly across the road. He had crossed the Thundersley-bound lane and was in the Benfleet-bound lane when he was struck by the Fiesta.”

The court heard that the road has in force a 20mph at some times during the day, but it was not when the crash happened.

Senior coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded Mr Cordery’s death as an accident.

She said: “What a tragic accident. We will never know quite what was on his mind when he stepped out into the road.

“Did he just not look to his left hand side? We will never know.”