A PEDESTRIAN has died after being hit by a double-decker bus as he crossed the road.

The man was in Marsh Lane, Lymington, when he was hit by a Wilts and Dorset vehicle being driven towards the town centre, as reported in later editions of yesterday's Daily Echo.

The bus's windscreen was shattered by the force of the impact.

Police said that there were no passengers on the vehicle, which is thought to have been returning to the bus depot in High Street when the accident happened just before 9am yesterday.

The pedestrian, who was in his 30s and lived in the Lymington area, suffered serious head injuries in the accident.

Two ambulances and an emergency care doctor were sent to the scene. A large number of police officers also attended and cordoned off the bus by placing tapes across the road.

The tragedy happened on a right-hand bend in Marsh Lane, which runs beside part of the Lymington to Brockenhurst railway line.

Passengers on passing trains looked shocked when they glanced out of the carriage windows and realised what had happened.

The accident occurred just north of Marsh Lane's junction with Bankhill Drive, part of the Lymington Meadows estate.

Police closed the road between its junctions with East Hill and the A337 Lymington to Brockenhurst road while they investigated the accident and waited for the bus to be recovered.

A police spokesman said that the pedestrian appeared to have been struck by the vehicle after stepping into the road.

The man was taken to Southampton General Hospital in an ambulance with a police escort.

Last night police confirmed that he had died of his injuries but said that he would not be named until his relatives had been informed.

The bus driver is not thought to have been injured but was described by police as "very shaken".

Police are appealing for witnesses to the fatal accident. Anyone who saw the incident should ring Hampshire police on 0845 045 4545 and ask to speak to officers involved in Operation Spike.