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 ghost bike commemorating a singer killed in a collision with a skip lorry has had a removal order fastened to it by Hackney council.

Family and friends put up the tribute to 28-year-old Shivon Watson who was crushed to death at a roundabout while cycling to work.

She was trapped between the lorry and railings as she and the vehicle turned left on March 10, 2010. Paramedics tried for an hour to resuscitate her but she died at the scene near Victoria Park.

Ms Watson, also known by her stage name Shiv Lizzy, was a successful musician and charity worker. The council issued the removal notice last Tuesday after saying it had received complaints from members of the public.

Her mother Annette Darch said just one person had complained and no one at the council had discussed the matter with her, adding: “We heard rumours that it might be taken away when we went up for the anniversary but everyone around there is happy for it to stay. Just one person complained apparently. They should not do it. And it would be nice to be consulted.”

Chris Peck of CTC, the national cycling charity, said: “It must be terrible for family and friends who want to preserve the memory of her and have that wiped out and taken away. The bikes serve to motivate people to campaign for better road safety and remind them of lives lost on the road. There should be a way of working with the family to have the ghost bike retained.”

Laura Woods, spokeswoman for road safety charity Brake, said: “Roadside memorials, such as a ghost bikes, provide a vital reminder for other drivers and for communities in which there have been deaths on the road and can be a comfort to families who have suffered a sudden and violent bereavement through a road crash.” Ghost bikes — bicycles painted white and often adorned with floral tributes — were conceived to highlight road safety and are put up at the exact location where a cyclist has been killed.

Boris Johnson has supported the installation of the memorials, and gave the go-ahead for a permanent tribute for Eilidh Cairns at Notting Hill Gate after the removal of a memorial left her sister Kate “utterly bereft”.

A Hackney council spokesman said: “In practice we only seek to remove temporary memorials where we have received complaints, as in this case, or where memorials are not maintained or pose a risk to safety. Although the seven-day notice period has expired, we will not remove the memorial until we have discussed this with the family.”