The step-daughter of a bestselling author and her three dogs were killed when a drunk Audi TT driver high on drugs crashed into her, a court heard on Tuesday.

Olivia Riley, 41, was walking along Chelsea Embankment when she was hit by an Audi TT driven by 28-year-old pizza restaurant worker Laszlo Dancs.

Ms Riley, the step-daughter of best-selling author Lucinda Riley, died along with her two golden labradors, one of them called Lily, and golden retriever Darcy on May 14 last year.

Dancs admitted causing death by dangerous driving, driving while on drugs and drink driving at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

He denied failing to co-operate with a preliminary breath test.

Dancs had 128mg of benzoylecgonine in his system and 137 milligrams of alcohol in a sample of blood, above the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

He works as a team leader at a north London pizza restaurant, the court heard.

After her death, Ms Riley's uncle Mark Riley paid tribute to a “beautiful, fun-loving” woman who “just lit up the room for everybody”.