A double-decker bus driver broke down in tears as he told an inquest how he hit a Brighton man who stepped out suddenly into a bus lane.

Kenneth Charles said: "I couldn't miss him. I tried everything I could. I am really sorry."

The bus driver was giving evidence at the inquest into the death of hospital administrator Brian Strain, 44, of Chatham Place, Brighton.

Mr Strain died at the National Hospital on November 2 last year after being hit by the bus on October 23 in London's West End.

The bus driver, from Waltham Abbey, said he could not swerve to avoid Mr Strain.

On one side of the bus lane there were pedestrians standing in the middle of the road and on the other a telephone box, the inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court heard.

Kirsty Harris saw the accident from a pub in Charing Cross Road.

She said she heard the driver sound his horn and apply the brakes.

Another witness, Sara Borgarelli, told the coroner: "He didn't look left or right. His hands were in his pockets. I don't think he knew what was happening."

Pathologist Dr David Jerreat said Mr Strain died from pneumonia consistent with serious head and chest injuries sustained in the accident.

St Pancras Coroner Dr Stephen Chan recorded a verdict of accidental death.