A MOTHER who watched her son die in hospital a fortnight after he was hit by a bus today spoke of her anguish of losing two children in seven years.

Father-of-one David Mellelieu, 31, died at the Royal Preston Hospital yesterday afternoon. He had suffered serious head injuries after colliding with a single-decker bus on Blackburn Road, Accrington, on Thursday, June 21.

His death comes seven years after his younger brother, Frankie, who was 23 when he plunged to his death from the third floor balcony of an apartment block in the Tenerife holiday resort of Puerto Rico.

Frankie, a self-employed builder, had been due to return home to Accrington the next day.

Today, mother Jean, of Lonsdale Street, Accrington, said she felt David had never come to terms with Frankie's death in 1995.

David had a nine-year-old son, David Lee, and lived with his partner Pat Goodwin in Persia Street, Accrington. Jean said: "What has happened to David is just another part of a very sad chapter for us. He had been depressed ever since Frankie's death and never got over it really.

"I am really shocked at the moment and we are just trying to comfort each other. I managed to get to the hospital just before he passed away yesterday which is some consolation.

"But, more than anything, I am happy he is finally with Frankie again in a better place."

Police are investigating the accident and are interviewing a number of witnesses. The coroner has been informed and an inquest will be held.

Both David and Frankie survived accidents similar to the ones which killed them.

Jean added: "David had been in a road accident when he was 18 which left him with a permanent scar on his face.

"Frankie fell off a ladder two years before he died."