London cyclist killed in collision with lorry at Bank junction

Police said the 26-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene

A female cyclist has died in a crash with a tipper truck in London.

The collision happened just before 09:00 BST and the woman, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.

City of London Police shut the Bank junction for four hours and said the cyclist's next of kin were being told.

She is the eighth cyclist to die on London's roads this year. Transport for London (TfL) said every death was "one too many" and it was "committed to making all roads safer for everyone".

Leon Daniels, from TfL, said the organisation's "deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends" of the cyclist who "tragically lost her life".

The incident happened at Bank junction at about 09:00 BST

"Every death on London's road is one too many and we are committed to making all roads safer for everyone," Mr Daniels added.

"We will do all we can to help assist the police and the local highway authority as they investigate this terrible incident."

On Friday, a 50-year-old cyclist died after colliding with a car in Harrow.

Other cyclist fatalities in recent months include 32-year-old Esther Hartsilver, who was killed in a crash in Camberwell, and designer Moira Gemmill who died in a collision with an HGV close to Lambeth Bridge.

'So sad'

Last year a total of 13 cyclists were killed on the city's roads and 14 died in 2013.

Statistically, the number of cyclist injured or killed on London's roads has fallen.

TfL figures released earlier this month show 432 cyclists were seriously injured or killed on the roads in 2014 - the lowest level since records began.

London Cycling Campaign's (LCC) chief executive, Ashok Sinha, said the group was "deeply saddened" to hear of the news.

"Without knowing the precise circumstances of today's tragedy, fatalities like this underline how urgently we need proper, protected space for cycling, especially at junctions," he said.

Safety plans 'shelved'

The campaign group, which said seven of the eight cycling deaths in London this year have involved HGVs, with construction lorries being the main type of vehicle involved, is calling for safer lorry designs to be adopted.

It described the six-way junction at Bank as a "dreadful throwback to a past, car-dominated era".

Darren Johnson, Green Party member of the London Assembly, said delays in making junctions safer - such as plans to improve Lambeth junction, consulted upon in 2012 as part of the Mayor of London's Better Junction program - were "costing Londoners lives".

He said "again and again" plans were discussed and safety improvements were "shelved".

"The result is that dangerous junctions stay dangerous and inevitably someone dies, or is seriously injured," he added.