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A fashion buyer who worked with Vivienne Westwood died after she was knocked down by a lorry as she cycled home - the third cyclist killed on London’s roads this year.

Federica Baldassa, 26, who moved from Italy last January to pursue her dream of working in the British fashion industry, was hit by a Greggs delivery vehicle in Vernon Place in Holborn, at about 9.20pm on Friday.

She was cycling back to Whitechapel after a leaving party for a colleague when she was crushed beneath the wheels of a lorry turning into Bloomsbury Square.

It is believed the fashion graduate was killed instantly. Miss Baldassa is the third cyclist killed by a heavy goods vehicle turning left on the capital’s roads in 18 days.

The driver stopped at the scene and was not arrested.

The cycling enthusiast worked as a sales rep at the TNT showroom in Notting Hill, which supplies designer brands to high-end UK retailers.

She also worked as a waitress on the weekends at Fitzrovia brasserie the Riding House Café.

Her best friend, Nadia Saccardi, said: “She was the funniest, most lovely, sweet kind person. She was like a sister to me... I’ve lost my sister.

“She loved living in London and came here to follow her dream of working in the fashion industry. She was loving life, she was really happy.

“She was a really passionate cyclist. She was active and healthy and wanted to be environmentally conscious. She went everywhere on her bike.

“She was beautiful and popular and made friends wherever she went. I spoke to her family yesterday. I don’t know how they will cope, they were all so close.”

Nadia Nonnis, 24, manager of the Spaghetti House which overlooks the accident scene, said: “It was horrifying, we ran out to see if we could help but there were already people trying to help and the emergency services arrived quickly.

“The woman was sprawled on the ground and it was clear it was very serious. We are an Italian restaurant so to hear she was an Italian girl was especially sad for us, she could have been one of my friends. Our thoughts are with her family. It is so dangerous for cyclists around here.”

Miss Baldassa, originally from Padua, near Venice, graduated from Italy’s top ranking higher education institute, the University of Padua, with a fashion degree in 2010 from and worked in Milan as a showroom assistant for designers including Vivienne Westwood and Roberto Cavalli.

She worked in marketing and supply for Westwood between 2011 and 2012 in her showroom in one of the city’s most exclusive shopping streets, Corso Venezia.

Her mother, housewife Danila Arpi, her retired father Franco and older brother Philip had arranged to visit her in London for her 27th birthday at the end of March.

On the day she died she had spoken to Miss Saccardi about their plans to visit Moscow and they were due to apply for their Russian visas today.

Miss Saccardi said: “She had so much to look forward to and now she’s gone.”

According to the London Cycling Campaign, lorries make up four per cent of London’s traffic but account for around half of cyclist deaths in the capital.

Officers from the Met’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are investigating the crash.

Police are urging witnesses and anyone with information to call police on 020 8991 9555.