A six-year-old boy was killed when he ran into a road and was hit by a car, an inquest heard.

Little Jamie Damant was going home to Shoebury with his mother Jane and three-year-old sister Shannon after tea with his grandmother when the accident happened, the hearing was told.

The family were crossing the High Street in Shoebury when Jamie ran out.

He was taken to Southend hospital with skull fractures and several broken bones on February 9 but died later that night.

Jane was holding Shannon's hand and Jamie was beside her when she prepared to cross. In a second he was out in the middle of the road.

Jane, whose statement was read out to the court, said: "Jamie was beside me, I said 'no', then I saw Jamie in the road. Then other people came out to help and I was taken to hospital in a police car."

Driver Melissa Brandon, who was in a Ford Orion, received her driving licence only in August. In her statement she said she was not in a hurry and had just bought fish and chips.

She was driving at between 20 and 30 miles an hour past parked cars when the accident happened.

She said: "I saw a movement and almost at the same time I heard and felt a bang in front of the car. It became difficult to steer and difficult to control. I stopped and realised it was a boy."

Accident investigator PC Ian Donaldson said: "It would take less than a second between view and impact. There is no evidence the Ford Orion was being driven in anything other than a careful manner."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Coroner Dr Peter Dean said: "There was nothing the driver could have done to avoid hitting Jamie. It was a tragic accident."

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