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

Dozens of cyclists stopped traffic by staging a 'die-in' vigil in memory of a physiotherapist who was killed by a lorry in south London.

Riders lay down in the road to protest after 32-year-old Esther Hartsilver lost her fight for life hours after being critically injured in a crash in Camberwell on May 29.

She was the sixth cyclist to have been killed on London's roads this year. Five of those were women, and all of them have died after collisions involving HGVs.

Campaigners said they called the vigil at the scene of the crash "to remember her, and reiterate the need for space and decent infrastructure for people that choose to cycle."

Nicola Branch, co-organiser of the Stop Killing Cyclists pressure group, said "Tonight's emotional die-in, which included the cyclist's family and friends, sends a loud message to Southwark Council that it must urgently install protected cycle lanes and protected left hand turns at junctions across the borough."

Peter John, leader of Southwark Council, said: "Our sincerest sympathies are with the family and friends of Miss Hartsilver. We want to make cycling safer for everyone in Southwark, which is one of the reasons why we plan to invest millions of pounds in cycling over the next five years.

"It is too early to speculate on the events surrounding the tragic death of Ms Hartsilver but the council is speaking with TfL about a number of changes to the Camberwell network and we will be working with TfL, who we need to agree any decisions.

"In addition to this, last year I proposed a London-wide ban on HGVs during rush hour to protect cyclists, and following the tragic death of Esther Hartsilver the case for such a ban remains strong. I will be writing to the Mayor of London this week asking him to look at this with us urgently.”

A separate vigil held to remember Miss Hartsilver last week attracted more than 200 friends and family members, who ran eight kilometres from Shoreditch to City Hall to honour her.

The runners chanted her name and held a short memorial service, spelling out her name in tea lights and candles.

Her sister Emma Hartsilver, 47, said at the time: “We are in awe of all her friends. She was the luckiest person to know them and tonight is an enormous help.

“It’s a reflection of the wonderful person she was and we were lucky to know her too.”

The event was organised by free weekly fitness group Project Awesome, which Miss Hartsilver attended.

Miss Hartsilver, of Islington, was a physiotherapist at Kings College Hospital. She was hit by a Co-Op food lorry in Denmark Hill while on her way to work.