A SHOCKED man has told how he desperately tried to help save the life of a pedestrian who had been struck by a car in York city centre.

Andy Day, 51, of Acomb, said he had been walking home at the end of a night out when he came across the scene of the fatal crash at the junction of Rougier Street and Station Road in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“I’d been in Flares with some friends, celebrating the life of a postman we knew who had died of cancer, and I decided to go home at some time after 2am,” he said.

“I saw a commotion up at the junction and went to see what was happening, and saw a young lad on the ground who had been hit.

“It had just happened and I went to see what was going on.

“He was lying on a cobbled area in a traffic island. I put him in the recovery position and tried to find a pulse, but couldn’t. He was unconscious.

“A bouncer came along and we started to do CPR. I haven’t had first aid training and was copying what the bouncer was doing.

“A paramedic arrived and we tried to help him until more ambulances turned up, and we left them to it and I went home.

“I went home but I couldn’t sleep, and I had to take time off work. I kept seeing that poor lad’s face. It’s hit me far more than I thought it would.”

North Yorkshire Police revealed on Monday that the incident happened at about 2.30am on Sunday and involved a pedestrian and a grey Skoda Octavia.

The force said that a man in his 30s from Leeds had been pronounced dead at the scene and officers were appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage to assist in their investigation into the crash.

The road was closed for about eight hours after the crash while emergency services worked at the scene.

Police have urged any witnesses – or anyone who has dashcam footage that may assist the investigation – to contact them by phoning 101, selecting option two and asking for the Major Collision Investigation Team or the officer in the case, TC Gemma Brett.

Alternatively, people can email MCIT@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk, quoting reference number 12200022915 when passing information.