A mother-of-one has described the moment she saw a man being hit by a bus in Stratford as “the worst thing to ever witness”.

Emergency services were called to Romford Road, at the junction of Ferns Road and Tavistock Road, at about 8.30am this morning following reports of a collision between a pedestrian and the route 25 bus, operated by Tower Transit.

The victim was taken to hospital as a priority with non life-threatening injuries.

Alicja Aleksandrzak, 32, was walking her six-year-old daughter to school, and was at a crossing when she witnessed the accident.

She said: “It looked like the man was crossing the road because he wanted to catch a bus on the other side, but then all of a sudden we just heard a scream.

“It was actually horrific. It is the worst thing I have ever witnessed. I just can’t get the image out of my head. He was just lying there and all you could hear was him screaming.”

Alicja explained that passengers from the bus rushed out to help the pedestrian following the collision.

She said: “People came out to help him and I think one of the nearby shopkeepers called the emergency services.

“The worst thing was that I was with my daughter, She is very shaken right now. She kept asking me about what had happened. It just shows life is too precious. He is lucky to be alive.”

A resident, who lives nearby, and wishes to remain anonymous, added: “I believe the young guy received injuries to his leg but hopefully it isn’t too serious. All you could hear was screaming. I hope he makes a quick recovery.”

Romford Road was closed at Vicarage Lane, with traffic continuing to be diverted, until about 2pm.

There will be a full investigation into the incident.