A bus driver described how he did everything he could to stop before hitting a schoolboy cyclist.

Joshua O'Flaherty was enjoying a bike ride with a friend around the streets near his home when he was hit by the single-deck bus and suffered fatal injuries, an inquest was told.

Joshua, 11, who lived in Bexhill Road, Woodingdean, Brighton, died three days after the accident in June.

The pupil at Rudyard Kipling School suffered a fractured skull and severe head injuries.

The Brighton inquest heard he was riding at speed down Selhurst Road, a steep hill, towards Cowley Drive. The bus, run by Brighton and Hove Buses, was travelling at 24mph in Cowley Drive.

Witnesses told yesterday's hearing how they heard the mountain bike's brakes screeching moments before the accident at the junction between Selhurst Road and Cowley Drive.

A police investigation cleared bus driver Darren Chilvers of any blame.

Mr Chilvers, from London Road, Burgess Hill, told the inquest: "Suddenly Joshua appeared on his bike in front of me. I did everything I could to stop the vehicle.

Unfortunately a six-ton bus does not stop very easily."

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