A PEDESTRIAN who was killed after being crushed between a runaway van and a road sign was named by police last night.Emergency services were called to Foxhall Road, in Rushmere St Andrew, near Ipswich, at about 10.

A PEDESTRIAN who was killed after being crushed between a runaway van and a road sign was named by police last night.

Emergency services were called to Foxhall Road, in Rushmere St Andrew, near Ipswich, at about 10.40am after reports a female had been injured in a collision near to the Nuffield Hospital.

The victim, Lynda Ling, 56, from Rushmere St Andrew, who was walking her dog, is thought to have been pinned against the sign by a white Iveco van as she walked on a path. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

No one is thought to have been driving the van at the time of the freak accident, which happened as it rolled backwards. It is not known how long the vehicle had been parked in the area.

Paul Hill, a National Grid worker, was working in a nearby garden when he saw the accident and tried to save the woman.

He said: “I was only a few metres away from where the van started and all of a sudden it started to go backwards.

“There was no one in it and I thought there would be an accident with another vehicle but the oncoming cars took avoiding action.

“The van rolled about 50metres and I saw the woman's black Labrador and then heard a loud bang.

“I went over and other witnesses said they saw a woman get trapped under the van so I got underneath and crawled over to her but I couldn't help her. She had no pulse.”

Acting sergeant Julian Ditcham, of Suffolk police, said investigations are continuing and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

The road was closed for several hours between Brookhill Way and Bell Lane, in Kesgrave.

Fire crews were also called to the scene by the ambulance service in a bid to release Mrs Ling, whose dog survived the accident.

Anyone with information is asked to call Pc David Horne at Martlesham Roads Policing Unit on 01473 613500.