Fatal cyclist was 'top scientist'

Dr Katherine Giles, the cyclist who was killed as she cycled to work in morning rush-hour traffic in central London on Monday worked at the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at UCL.

She gained her degree at UCL in 2000 and PhD in 2005 and is thought to have cycled the same route for years.

The tragedy is the second to strike the Centre at UCL after its director 49-year-old Professor Seymour Laxon died after falling down a flight of stairs in January. Dr Giles was expected to be his successor.

In a statement to colleagues Phil Meredith, Head of Earth Sciences, described the loss as 'outrageous unfairness':

The cyclist who was killed in London on Monday after being struck by a lorry has been named as Dr Katharine Giles, a Research Fellow and lecturer at UCL in her thirties who was carrying out groundbreaking research into global warming.

She was killed during morning rush-hour traffic in central London as a tipper truck turned left into Victoria Street.

The driver of the lorry stopped but no arrests have been made.

Boris Johnson has called again for lorries to be made safer, after a cyclist died in a collision with one during this morning's rush hour.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene in Victoria.

Rags Martel reports.

Police say the woman was killed when she was struck by a tipper truck at the junction of Victoria Street and Palace Street in central London.

The driver of the lorry stopped but no arrests have been made.

Mike Cavenett, from the London Cycling Campaign, said tipper lorries have a high driving position and poor visibility for the driver.

He said: "These lorries are banned from the roads overnight so first thing in the morning they go out on to the streets to make deliveries at the same time as cyclists. It is a serious problem. Reducing the danger that lorries pose has to be the number one priority.

We want lorries to be equipped with sensors or cameras to help the drivers, and cyclist awareness training for every lorry driver in London."

Around half of the cyclist fatalities in Greater London involve lorries, he said, and three-quarters of those are from the construction industry.

No HGV will be able to enter the capital unless it is cycle safety compliant, Boris Johnson tells ITV News London.

Boris Johnson launched a number of measures to revolutionise cycling for Londoners last month, including launching a study into banning large lorries from central London at certain times.

This morning he told our Political Correspondent Simon Harris he wants to go even further to ensure cyclist safety:

A female cyclist in her mid-thirties has died this morning in a collision with a lorry on Palace Street, SW1. The accident happened just before 8:30 and the rider was pronounced dead at the scene.