Neighbours have spoken of horrific scenes as a grandmother was killed just yards from her own front door.

Mary Byrne was paying a private hire vehicle fare when the cab was involved in a two car collision which left her fatally injured.

And in a cruel twist of fate the accident happened just a few steps from the gates of a primary school where a poster by her seven-year-old granddaughter Grace pleaded for drivers to be considerate.

Three men are now in custody as police work to find out how the incident in Mandale Road, Horton Bank Top, happened at 5.16pm on Saturday.

Last night Mary’s four children spoke of their inconsolable grief at losing the woman who devoted her life to them, her elderly parents and seven grandchildren.

Today Mary would have been visiting her daughter Sarah Harrison at her nearby home in Jer Lane and cooking up a batch of pancakes for her grandchildren, a Monday family tradition.

She lived with her partner Alan Jones, who is currently away in Kos and trying to get a flight home.

The 51-year-old was a cook at Cooper House nursing home where daughter Sarah, 31, also works as a hairdresser.

Her love of cooking was passed on to son Ben Byrne and the two used to work together at The Beeches Nursing Home, in Beacon Road.

Mary was also a devoted daughter and visited her parents in Wibsey several times a week. They had encouraged her to pursue a love of cleaning and start her own business, which she said would be called Mary’s Mops. Sarah said Mary fancied herself as “a bit of a Kim and Aggie” and had seen a scooter she would use for her business venture.

The family say her sudden death has left a massive void. Ben, 24, said: “She loved us all. She just loved her grandkids and all of us, she just worried about us all the time. She took her grandchildren everywhere.”

Eldest daughter Sam Rees, 33, who lives near Keighley, said: “She loved us, but whatever love she had for us, you could times that by ten for the grandkids. She was a proper grandma, she was involved in as much as she could be. There wasn’t a day when she wouldn’t see some of her grandkids.”

Mary, who was a regular at The Crown pub where she would go to watch Bradford Bulls play, was returning from celebrating a friend’s birthday when the accident happened outside the semi-detached house where she had lived for 27 years. She was excitedly planning to move to a new bungalow.

Her son David Barrett, 21, had spoken to her as she waited for a taxi to take her home. He said she had had a good day and was looking forward to seeing her family over the weekend.

Sarah received a phone call about an accident on Mandale Road and had called her mum as she said Mary liked to know what was happening on her street.

When Sarah realised the timing of the accident she said she just knew what had happened.

Mary’s children said the bitter irony of the accident happening so close to her grandaughter Grace’s poster, drawn as part of a school road safety campaign at St John’s School, only served to make them more determined to campaign for traffic calming on Mandale Road.

The school started a petition two weeks ago, which is part of a long running plea from neighbours for drivers not to speed on the road.

Neighbours were left sickened when they went to Mrs Byrne’s aid as she lay trapped under the taxi. One man, who did not wish to be named, said he heard the crash and ran straight out to help, but it was already too late.

Around a dozen brightly coloured bouquets have been neatly placed in the smashed garden wall of the semi-detached house adjoining the victim’s.

Many had cards or messages attached which paid tribute and questioned why she had been taken. One read: “This should not have happened to a lovely person like you.”

Police say that accident involved a taxi and a black BMW, but officers want to speak to anyone who saw the BMW 3 Series and blue Ford Focus.

A police spokesman said: “The only occupant of the BMW, a 21-year-old man, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remains in police custody. Two other men, aged 19 and 17, have also been arrested on the same charge and remain in custody.”

Officers are not looking for anyone else, but anyone who saw the accident or vehicle in the area before it are asked to contact the Major Collision Enquiry Team on (01924) 293047 or via 101.