STUDENTS from The Petersfield School near the scene of the fatal collision on Dragon Street in Petersfield were comforted by police – some parents hearing of the accident hurried to the scene worried their child may have been the victim.

The school in Cranford Road was closed for an inset day and about a dozen or so students were within a few metres of Dragon Street around the time of the collision at the pelican crossing between a pedestrian and waste recycling lorry.

They were comforted outside Mezzos Café by a female police officer, before being gently directed away from the “graphic” accident scene.

Meanwhile garbled news tweets and texts led some parents to fear initially the victim was a TPS student.

One mum who arrived after the accident looking for her teenage daughter said: "My thoughts go out to the woman's family, and to the lorry driver, its terrible and very sad for both of them."

The daughter of a Petersfield fire fighter at the scene spent time reassuring his partner the teenager was safely on her way home.

Witnesses are asked to call police on 101, quoting Operation Security.