A LORRY driver has admitted his careless driving caused the death of an elderly cyclist.

Vera Chaplin, 89, was hit by the Silverton Aggregates lorry driven by Tony Smith.

Smith, of Bemerton Gardens, Kirby Cross, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court and admitted causing death by careless driving.

He was told he would not be jailed for the accident, which he blamed on a lapse of concentration.

The court heard Miss Chaplin was cycling along Frinton Road, Kirby Cross, and had priority at the mini-roundabout near Freituna Road at 8.20am, on August 9 last year.

Smith, 46, failed to see Miss Chaplin from the cab of his Scania LGV truck until it was too late.

His lawyer, Rowan Jenkins, mitigating, said: “It really was a momentary lapse of concentration. He looked left and looked right. It wasn’t dark and the roads weren’t particularly busy.

“There are some mirrors on the lorry which can make it difficult to see clearly and do obscure some of the view.”

Mr Jenkins said Smith accepted he should have taken into account the issue with the mirrors before pulling on to the roundabout.

He said his client was a man of good character with a clean driving licence, who had been driving lorries for years.

District Judge David Cooper adjourned the case for sentencing until next month Members of Miss Chaplin’s family were in court but declined to comment on the hearing.

Miss Chaplin, from Kirby Cross, loved cycling to the shops and was an active member of St Michael’s Church.

Following the accident, her older brother Stanley described her as a “good-hearted soul”.