A woman was fighting for her life last night after being seriously injured in a collision with a bus.

Her condition when she was admitted to hospital was "poorly" and police said there had been no change.

The crash happened at the junction of St James's Street and Old Steine, Brighton.

A Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company spokesman expressed sympathy to the woman and her family and said he accepted the accident might again raise questions about bus-lane safety in the city centre.

The 25C Sussex University double decker was travelling south on the east side of the war memorial at the Old Steine.

The driver pulled away on a green light just as the woman stepped onto the road.

There have been a number of collisions involving buses and pedestrians in the city centre.

The bus company and Brighton and Hove City Council highways officials may be asked to give evidence on February 28 at the Brighton inquest into the death of Judith Brownsword, 57, who died after a collision with a bus on a pedestrian crossing outside St Peter's Church, Brighton, last September.

The council is understood to be planning to axe the pedestrian crossing in favour of a zebra crossing which, experts believe, will make both pedestrians and drivers look twice and take extra care.

Roger French, managing director of the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, said: "The bus system in the city centre is safe. Buses encourage fewer cars in the city centre and that increases safety."

He said the road system where the accident happened had not changed dramatically in several decades.

The £4 million London Road traffic scheme was designed to reduce congestion and improve safety.

In 1998 it reshaped the heart of Brighton into a space where buses, cyclists and pedestrians were supposed to have priority over cars.

Seven years, three deaths and more than 20 injuries later Brighton and Hove City Council is reconsidering the layout of bus lanes in the city centre.