Eye-witnesses yesterday told how they watched in horror as a cyclist was dragged under a rubbish truck and killed in Oxford.

The cyclist, believed to be a Worcester College undergraduate, died after a collision with the recycling truck at the junction of Parks Road and Holywell Street at 10am.

The driver of the lorry, on hire from a West Midlands firm to Severnside, was arrested and later released on police bail.

Window cleaners Gordon Sims and Ted Smith of Oxford Window and Office Cleaning Company were working at nearby Wadham College yesterday morning and were on a tea break when they saw the incident near the Kings Arms pub.

Mr Sims said: "The dumper truck was coming down past Blackwells to turn left to go past Wadham College.

"I don't know where this cyclist had come from. He went straight under the dumper truck.

"The truck was not going very fast. Whether he went under the front wheel or back wheel, it dragged the bike behind him. There was blood coming out from his mouth.

"There were a couple of chaps down there trying to resuscitate him until the ambulance got there."

He said paramedics tried to save him with their equipment for five to six minutes before pronouncing him dead.

Police sealed off Parks Road, Broad Street, Catte Street and Holywell Street while forensic teams gathered evidence. They were later reopened.

It is believed the student was in his early 20s and of Oriental origin.

Last night, Oxford police and university officials were trying to trace the student's next-of-kin, while it remained unclear what the recycling truck was doing in the city centre.

Oxford City Council - the waste disposal authority - said the vehicle was not on council business.

Severnside provides "integrated recycling and waste management solutions" for public and private sector organisations supplying its parent company, St Regis Paper Company Ltd, with raw materials for its mills.

Oxford University said it could not comment on the incident until relatives of the dead student had been informed.

The truck, which had a large white bin attached to its hydraulic lift at the rear at the time of the incident, was hired out by Brownhills-based Manvik Hire Ltd to Severnside Recycling, which is based in Cardiff and has a depot in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.

Mark Burgess, general manager of Manvik Hire Limited, said: "We have heard about the incident.

"There is no comment we can make at this moment in time. We are not the operators of the truck, we are the owners."

Jim Malone, a director of Severnside Recycling, said: "I can confirm the vehicle was on hire to our company, but I don't have any other details.

"This is of concern to us. The details I have are sketchy, but there is an investigation."

Sgt Peter Jell, of Bicester traffic police, added: "There were quite a number of witnesses at the scene and we are collating their accounts."

'It's far too dangerous'

A former cyclist who survived being dragged under a low-loader in Oxford has said she was too scared to sit in the saddle again.

Publisher Sarah Broadway, 28, pictured right, was in the cycle lane beside the truck at the junction of St Aldates and Speedwell Street in January 2003, when the vehicle unexpectedly turned left, leaving her no time to react.

She was dragged beneath it.

She spent two months in hospital, enduring 50 hours of surgery before battling her way back to health.

Last night she said: "I just don't think in Oxford there is enough provision made for cyclists.

"There are cycle lanes in some areas but then they just disappear quickly. You see sometimes how close some vehicles come to cyclists - and how cyclists take risks.

"There is a gulf of misunderstanding between road users and cyclists. Big cars don't give a second thought."

Meanwhile, Margaret Hauser, a member of staff at the Museum of the History of Science in Broad Street, said she was shocked to hear of the cyclist's death.

She added: "This is a dreadful corner.

"It appears to be a quiet street serving the university, but actually it is not."