A woman rushed outside when she heard a crash to find her husband lying fatally injured in the road.

Kenneth Ansell, 81, known as Des, of Old Shoreham Road, Hove, had popped out to the shops late in the afternoon of December 15 last year.

But as he crossed the busy road he was hit by a car.

Karen Hillman-Ansell told an inquest she was in the kitchen when she heard the accident.

She said: "I heard an almighty screech of brakes and then a thud."

She rushed from her home and saw her husband lying in the road.

A witness described how he had been thrown into the air by the impact.

Mr Ansell was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital where he died from multiple injuries.

Mrs Hillman-Ansell told the inquest the couple had been married for ten years and she described her husband as fit and agile for his age.

She said he had only given up working full-time at the age of 79.

She told the inquest her husband, who had drunk two lagers that day, had been complaining of problems with his eyesight but had not been to a doctor.

The driver of the car, Mark Weller, of Colbourne Road, Hove, said he did not see Mr Ansell until he was almost in front of his vehicle.

He said: "I had enough time to react and brake but not sufficient time to stop."

The inquest heard Mr Weller will not be prosecuted in connection with the accident.

PC Chris Burt said there was evidence Mr Weller had braked and swerved.

The officer said: "He was suddenly confronted by a pedestrian moving into his path. Unfortunately he was too close to Mr Ansell to avoid colliding with him."

Brighton and Hove coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded a verdict of accidental death.