A heartbroken mother whose son died after being struck by a car as he stepped off a bus has recalled the devastating moment she learned of his death.

Robert Prescott, 38, of Birchfield Close, Coulsdon, died of head injuries after he was hit on October 8.

He had called his mum, 62-year-old Rita Short, just minutes before he was struck crossing Coulsdon Road on the way home from work.

Ms Short, who lives in Fulham, said: "My partner picked up the phone and talked to him but I was cooking so he asked him to call me when I got home. 

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Robert pictured with mum Rita in her allotment last month

"Two hours later I got a phonecall from the police. I was in hell, thinking whether had been mugged or knifed or whether he had fainted.

"But I never imagined that he had been killed. That was my worst nightmare."

She added: "My heart is broken. I look at things around me and they just remind me of him. I can't believe he has gone in a flash like that. It is so cruel. His life has been cut short."

Ms Short believes that Robert, a keen trainspotter who helped to restore the Bluebell railway line, had been plagued by stress and money worries which may have distracted him as he crossed the road.

His funeral was at St Aidan's Parish Church in Portnalls Road, where Catholic Robert volunteered, on Thursday morning.

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Robert Prescott

Ms Short said: "He was a caring young man, very sensitive. He had so many friends. It brings a joy to my heart to think that these people loved him.

"You couldn't know him and not love him. He had a childlike innocence that was absolutely gorgeous."

Mr Prescott's death, the second on Coulsdon Road in two months, sparked calls from councillors and residents for new road safety measures.

 

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