A lorry driver has been arrested following the death of a 25-year-old cyclist in Croydon.

He was held by police on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and failing to stop of the scene after the fatal collision in St James's Road just after 1.30pm yesterday.

The victim, a woman, was pronounced dead in the road.

Her next of kin have been informed but she has yet to be formally identified. 

YESTERDAY: Cyclist in her 20s dies after being hit by lorry

The driver, whose lorry is understood to have been delivering goods to a nearby builders' merchant, remained in custody last night at a south London police station.

Police have appealed for witnesses to the collision, which took place on the rail bridge near the junction with Lansdowne Road.

Police erected a forensics tent at the scene of the crash and shut St James's Road for several hours following the cyclist's death yesterday.

An employee at Harris and Bailey Ltd, where the lorry involved is thought to have been heading to deliver copper pipes, told the Croydon Guardian: "I saw the air ambulance and thought, 'What's going on here?' And a little while later the police had blocked off our road.

"When we left at 5pm the lorry was left at the bottom of Warren Road, which is is the exit road from our company, and forensics were there examining the vehicle.

He added: "It is quite shocking to hear that a lorry that had just delivered to our place had done it.

"It is a big articulated lorry with a trailer."

Anyone who witnessed the crash or the aftermath is asked to call the Metropolitan Police's roads and transport unit on 020 8285 1574.