POLICE have vowed to "never give up" the hunt for a hit-and-run driver who killed an 82-year-old woman in Blackburn six months ago.

Officers made the vow after the inquest into the death of Stanislawa Wislocka.

She was struck as she crossed Preston New Road on December 29 last year and died 13 days later from serious head injuries.

An inquest heard that Mrs Wislocka's husband, Zbigniw, at first thought a parcel had dropped off a passing lorry before realising it was actually his wife.

The hearing was told the driver of the car, who initially braked but then drove off at speed, had not been traced.

Zbigniw Wislocki (CORR), of Parklands Way, Blackburn, told the hearing he had stopped across from the newsagents in Preston New Road while his wife went in to get a newspaper, something they did on a regular basis.

As he sat in his car a lorry went past heading towards Preston and a dark coloured car came in the opposite direction.

"I thought the lorry had dropped a package but suddenly I realised it was my wife," said Mr Wislocki.

The driver of a another car said he saw a pedestrian thrown in the air before the car, which he thought was a dark blue hatchback, stopped for a moment and then drove off.

Accident investigator, Stephen Wilson, said a tyre mark suggested the car that hit Mrs Wislocka was travelling at about 30 mph.

He said the driver would have been aware that the collision had taken place.

After the case, Sergeant Peter Sculpher, of the road policing unit, said: "He or she knows that they were involved in an accident.

"It's highly likely that they have told friends or family. The person would have been behaving suspiciously on that Friday and would probably have been a bit jumpy. I would appeal to them or to the person directly to look into their hearts and come forward.

"I will not give up on this investigation. I am hoping that this appeal will help bring forward new witnesses to help us find the person responsible to help the family move on."

It is believed the vehicle was a dark coloured Honda Civic, possibly blue or black, with three or four doors and possibly had an N registration plate.

The medical cause of death was given as head injury and coroner Michael Singleton recorded a verdict of accidental death.