The heartbroken family of a Selby teenager told today how she was due to go on holiday with family and friends only hours after the crash that claimed her life.

Clare as a bridesmaid at a family wedding last year

Clare Smith, 17, of Westbourne Terrace, died last Saturday morning, when the car she was travelling in collided with the barrier of a railway crossing in Womersley, south of Selby. She was a back-seat passenger.

Clare, who went to Brayton High School and had started work at Gateforth Mushroom Farm, near Selby, leaves behind six sisters and two brothers.

She had been at a 21st birthday party with family and friends on the Friday night and had not returned home.

Her mother Ann, stricken with grief, said: "She was my baby, I'm going to miss her so much."

"We just can't believe it," added Clare's stepfather Eric.

"We are such a close family. Clare was certainly adventurous, but so loving. She was always doing something, if she wasn't with friends, she would be looking after a niece or nephew. She just never stopped."

Clare's aunt, Gina, added: "Clare was supposed to be going on holiday to Majorca on Saturday night with my daughter Samantha and her friend Stella.

"My other daughter Jacqueline and a work friend Lyn were joining them the day after. None of them have gone, they are all so devastated."

She was due to celebrate her 18th birthday on October 1, along with her cousin Samantha.

Gina said: "They had booked a minibus to take them for a night out in Leeds. I don't know what will happen now.

"This is going to have a huge impact on all the family and leave a big hole in all of us. The girls are going to miss her so much, especially when they go out."

Clare's sister, Caroline, said: "She was so well-loved and really lived life to the full. We always had fun when she was around, she loved to go out dancing and was the life and soul.

"Clare was thinking about working abroad and was going to see what she thought when she went to Spain."

The driver of the car, Lee Christopher Randall, 18, of Croft Road, Camblesforth, and the front seat passenger, Michael Scott, 18, of Town End Avenue, Carlton, both suffered minor injuries and were taken to Pontefract General Infirmary. Mr Randall was released after treatment in the casualty department.

Clare's funeral takes place at Selby Abbey on Friday at 1pm.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.