A cyclist who died after being hit by a lorry during his morning commute was a doctor to the Queen, it has been revealed.

Bystanders battled in vain to save Dr Peter Fisher following the collision on Wednesday morning, seconds from where he worked as a director of research at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine.

Eyewitnesses revealed how medics desperately gave the 67-year-old CPR both before and after he was pulled from underneath the front wheel of the lorry.

The physician served the Queen for almost 15 years as a member of the royal medical household, and Her Majesty was informed of his death this afternoon.

Bystanders battled in vain to save Dr Peter Fisher (right) following a collision near Holborn Tube station on Wednesday morning

The experienced homeopathic physician (pictuted) served the Queen for almost 15 years as a member of the royal medical household

The incident happened near Holborn station in Central London at about 9.30am this morning

He has become the eighth cyclist to be killed in London this year and the fifth to die during a collision with a lorry.

Angie Bozianu, 29, manager of the Princess Louise pub, said: 'I was sleeping and I heard screaming - a lady was screaming and it wasn't good.

'The second I looked out of my window I saw a man under the wheel. He wasn't moving. The wheel was over his side.

'People were gathering around him, they tried to give him first aid and CPR and between five and 10 minutes later the ambulance came.

'They tried to CPR and managed to pull him out and again gave him CPR for half an hour or maybe more

'I looked away, but when I looked back he was on the side, covered. I've never seen him before, I assumed he was on his day off - he was in a t-shirt and shorts.

Floral tributes, a wellwisher's letter and candles have also been placed at the scene in Holborn, central London.

The envelope to a handwritten letter laid on top of flowers attached to a crossing near where he died read: 'To: Someone I do not know but I am sure was a unique person.'

Ms Bozianu, originally from Romania, said: 'I couldn't see his bike - only afterwards a police officer told me he was a cyclist. I hadn't seen the bike, so it was probably underneath the lorry.

Emergency services vehicles raced to the scene after the man was involved in the collision

'It's not a thing you want to see when you wake up in the morning, you are looking at him and people are trying to help him and the next few minutes you see him on the side covered - I'm going to have that image for a while now.

'There are many cyclists here but it's London and there are many everywhere.. It's a very busy road and lots of lorries come down this way.

'It was a big, green lorry, an HGV. It had something like plumbing or glass on it.

'I put down some flowers today. I did it because it was the least I could do and I saw people started to put some flowers, I just felt like it.

'I do feel sorry for him and for the family and also for the driver and his family. I would do it for anyone.'

CCF, whose lorry was involved in the incident, said it was 'deeply saddened' by the death and said it was 'working closely with police' to determine what happened.

Greg White, chief executive of the Faculty of Homeopathy, said: 'The Faculty of Homeopathy has to announce with great sadness, news of the death of the Faculty President, Dr Peter Fisher in a road accident.

High Holborn was closed at Kingsway due to the collision at the junction with Newton Street

'Dr Fisher was Director of Research at the hospital, Europe's largest centre for integrative medicine. He was previously Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at King's College Hospital.

'He was also one of the world leaders in homeopathic research, and will be sorely missed not only by his family and UK friends and colleagues but around the whole world.

'It's no exaggeration to say Peter is an irreplaceable talent. He truly was a giant in all his fields of endeavour, which included clinician, researcher and academic.'

Dr Gill Gaskin, medical director at UCLH specialist hospitals board, said Dr Fisher will be missed by patients and colleagues.

She said: 'We are all deeply shocked and saddened to lose Dr Peter Fisher in such tragic circumstances.

'Peter was Director of Research at UCLH's Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (RLHIM), and physician to Her Majesty The Queen.

The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, and officers were trying to trace his next of kin

'Peter was a highly regarded colleague and friend of many at the RLHIM, where he worked for more than 35 years.

'He was an international figure in homeopathy who was committed to holistic and compassionate care for his patients.

'He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and patients alike.

'Our deepest sympathies go out to Peter's family, friends and loved ones at this difficult time.'

A graduate of Cambridge University and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Faculty of Homeopathy, Dr Fisher was a widely published expert in rheumatology and forms of complementary and alternative medicine.

Dr Fisher chaired the World Health Organisation's working group on homeopathy and was a member of WHO's Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional and Complementary Medicine and was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal of the Polish Academy of Medicine in 2007.