West End work halted after lorry in fatal bike crash took wrong route

A MAJOR London building site is set to grind to a halt after work was ordered to stop following a construction lorry being involved in a fatal crash with a cyclist, the Standard can reveal.

Camden council told Derwent London to suspend activities at the £107 million office block it is building in Tottenham Court Road while police investigate the death of a young rider killed in the HGV crash on Wednesday morning.

The man, said to be in his 20s, was believed to have been riding a Lime rental e-bike when he was in collision with a 32-tonne tipper truck that had exited the site of Derwent’s Network Building nearby.

The lorry driver had turned left from Howland Street into the northern end of Charlotte Street — a route not permitted in the construction management plan drawn up by the developer and the council as a condition of Derwent’s planning consent.

The approved route would have taken the driver straight across Howland Street into New Cavendish Street and eventually on to Marylebone Road.

A Camden council spokesman told the Standard last night: “The site has been instructed to stop all works.” A Derwent London spokesperson said: “We were deeply saddened to learn of the fatal road traffic accident in Fitzrovia on Wednesday. Our condolences and sympathies go to the individual’s family and friends. A full investigation is underway and we are liaising with all parties, including Camden council.”

The collision happened at about 7.45am on Wednesday. It was the second cyclist fatality in London this year, following the death of a rider who collided with a lamppost in Lewisham in January.

Construction logistics firm Keltbray

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A RECORD number of cyclists are expected to ride up to 100 miles as London marks the 10th anniversary of what has become the biggest bike festival in the world.

The three-day Ride London event will culminate on Sunday with three sold-out mass rides from central London to Essex and back, finishing on Tower Bridge, with 25,000 riders due to complete the 30-, 60- or 100-mile routes on closed roads.

A similar number are expected to join an eight-mile unticketed family bike ride around Buckingham Palace on Sunday. confirmed the vehicle involved on Wednesday belonged to one of its sub-contractors. Keltbray said in a statement: “The thoughts of the Keltbray leadership team and the entire workforce at Keltbray’s built environment division are with the family and friends of all those involved at this very difficult time”. Police investigators have appealed for witnesses and motorists with dashcam video evidence to come forward.

It is thought the cyclist was riding west along Howland Street where there is a segregated cycle lane, though there is no separation at the junction with Charlotte Street. However there is a possibility that he was cycling north on Charlotte Street and was hit head-on by the turning vehicle.

A number of cyclists have raised concerns about construction traffic in the area. Howland Street is part of a Transport for London-recommended east-west cycle route, Cycleway 27, through the back streets of central London. Work at the Network building is due to continue until 2025.

Seven people were killed cycling in London in 2022, down from 10 in 2021. But the total number of road deaths in the capital increased by more than a third to 101.