ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

A female cyclist is fighting for life after being hit by a coach on a cycle superhighway in east London.

The woman, in her 30s, was struck as she cycled near Aldgate East Tube station on the CS2 route in Whitechapel High Street, Tower Hamlets, just before 9am on Monday.

She suffered life-threatening injuries and was rushed to an east London hospital in a critical condition, Scotland Yard said.

Dramatic images taken at the scene showed police, ambulance and fire crews surrounding a coach as the road was taped off at the junctions with the Commercial Road and Adler Street.

One bystander, who witnessed the aftermath of the crash, described how passengers were escorted from the coach as heroic witnesses worked to save the cyclist.

They said crowds gathered around the coach in a bid to pull the woman from underneath the vehicle.

The witness, who asked not to be named, added: “There was a crowd standing around the other side of the coach and people trying to pull the bike from underneath.”

Another cyclist, who was coming from the other direction when the crash occurred, said it was difficult to see what had happened.

He added: "There were a lot of bikes in the cycle lane at that time in the morning so it's possible that a bike got clipped and then dragged out across the road.

"I couldn't see exactly what happened but it was really horrible."

Khalid Mushtaq, owner of Fashion Warehouse, on Whitechapel High Street described a large police presence in the road.

He told the Standard that commuters leaving Aldgate East Tube station had been advised to use other exits as police dealt with the aftermath of the crash.

Mr Mushtaq said: “The road is closed at Adler Street and up to Commercial Street and the coach is still stopped there (where the crash happened).

“They have no closed this entrance to the station but people have been told they shouldn’t come this way.

“We have a lot of cyclists come up here, since the restructure (and introduction of CS2), I think it has made things more confusing.

“We had a cyclist killed around a couple of years ago outside the shop.”

Police said the driver of the coach stopped at the scene and no arrests have been made.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman added: “There are road closures and diversions in place. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.

“Officers from the Met's Roads Transport Policing Command are investigating.

“No arrests have been made. Enquiries continue.”

A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We sent a two single responder in cars, an incident response officer, an ambulance crew and our hazardous area response team to the scene.

“We also dispatched London's Air Ambulance to the scene.

"We treated a patient in cardiac arrest at the scene and took them as a priority to hospital."