A young mum who was inches from death as she crossed the road has spoken of her shock after narrowly avoiding a crash between a car and a bus.

South African-born Lethiwe Hlongwane, 28, had just dropped off her two-year-old daughter at nursery and was crossing Croft Street, Bradford, a fraction of a second before the smash happened.

A blue Renault Clio car was in collision with a number 620 First bus heading down Wakefield Road, towards Bradford Interchange just after she had stepped into the road.

The car went through a red light and across her path before colliding with the bus.

After the crash, a visibly shaken Miss Hlongwane said: “It was horrible. I could have been a dead woman.

“I was crossing the road and a car just came right in front of me. I just lifted my hands up and heard a big bang.

“I had only just dropped my daughter off at nursery. She could have been left without a mum to pick her up."

The crash happened at about 1.29pm yesterday.

The door of the bus was left badly damaged and the Clio had severe damage to its front driver side.

Police and ambulances attended the scene and spoke to Miss Hlongwane, of Little Horton Lane, the bus driver and passengers and eyewitnesses.

Officers also spoke to the driver of the Clio, who was later issued with a fixed penalty notice and a £60 fine for contravening a red traffic light, a police spokesman said.

One eye witness, Thomas Ignatowski, 61, said: “There were people shaking at the roadside.

“It was such a loud bang. The medics have said that nobody was injured but they were very lucky.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We were called at 1.29pm to reports of a road traffic collision between a car and a single-decker bus.

“An ambulance was called and checked over one person.

“A man was issued with a fixed penalty notice for contravening a red traffic light.”