City of London traffic halted by protest over cyclist's death

The protest brought traffic to a standstill on all six arms of Bank junction

Hundreds of cyclists blocked traffic at a junction in the City of London in protest over the eighth cycling death on the capital's roads this year.

The 15-minute protest from 08:30 BST brought traffic to a halt on all six arms of Bank junction.

Ying Tao, 26, died in a collision with a lorry while she was cycling to work at PricewaterhouseCoopers on Monday.

The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) is calling for segregated space for cyclists on London's roads.

The campaign group, which organised the demonstration, also wants the removal of dangerous lorries from streets.

Ying Tao was a Chinese national working in London, police said

Seven of the eight fatalities on London's roads this year have involved heavy goods vehicles, LCC said

A minute's silence was also held in memory of Ms Tao and 60-year-old Clifton James, who was killed in a collision with a car in Harrow, north west London on Sunday.

Neil Hampson, a partner at PricewaterhouseCooper, said the company was "shocked" by the news of their employee's death and sent their condolences to her family.

"Ying was a bright and popular colleague with a promising career in front of her," he said.

"She excelled at everything she did, with a passion for life, for work and for the friendships she made.

"It is a tragedy that a wonderful young woman should lose her life at such an age."

David Cameron told MPs it was extremely depressing young lives were "being snuffed out in this way"

During Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron said a lot had been done to try to make cycling safer in London and money had been invested in cycling lanes.

However, he added: "The number of fatalities is still very high and extremely depressing [that] young lives [are] being snuffed out in this way."

Of the eight fatalities on the capital's roads this year, seven have involved heavy goods vehicles.

Floral tributes have been left to the 26-year-old who was killed while cycling to work

The London Cycling Campaign organised the protest at Bank junction