A MAN died from traumatic brain injuries when he ran into the path of a car as he crossed a busy Bradford road in the wrong place, an inquest has heard.

Steven Ley, 56, who had an eye problem restricting his sight, was wearing all-black clothing, had been drinking and was carrying a vodka bottle at time of the accident on a dark wet night last November.

The silver Volkswagen Polo involved was travelling through green lights in Keighley Road at the junction with Oak Lane, Manningham.

In a statement read to the inquest in Bradford today, the driver Gail Steward said Mr Ley had ran into her from nowhere.

"There was no way I could stop, there was no way I could do anything. He was just running, I don't know why, he just ran into my car," she said.

Other witnesses described seeing Mr Ley, who lived alone in a flat in Oak Lane, crossing the road at an angle between two pedestrian crossings. They said he was thrown into the air by the force of the impact and glass from a smashed vodka bottle was found nearby.

An off-duty police officer, who was in the car behind Mrs Steward, gave help until emergency services arrived.

Mr Ley, who had beaten cancer and had survived a previous accident which left him hospitalised him for three months and having steel plates fitted in his head, was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he died nine days later on November 14, after ventilation support was withdrawn with his family's agreement.

At the time of his death Mr Ley had the equivalent of about three and a half pints of beer or seven singles of spirits in his system.

Assistant Bradford Coroner Roger Whittaker said Mrs Steward had said Mr Ley ran into her, rather than her running into him but he added: "They each hit each other.

"It's a tragedy which ever way you look at it. Mrs Steward was entitled to be driving along that route at that point, she should not blame herself."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Whittaker added: "We've a situation where Mr Ley was crossing a road in a position where he shouldn't have been crossing."

A tribute from Mr Ley's sister Jackie Hayes, read out during the inquest, said: "The loss of Steven has left an emptiness in our hearts but I feel comforted that he had a full life and feel grateful for knowing him."