Family tributes to crash teacher

Charlotte Edwards, 19, was training to be a primary school teacher

The parents of a trainee primary school teacher killed in a road crash involving a marked police car have paid tribute to "her sheer love of life".

Student teacher Charlotte Edwards, 19, died on Tuesday morning when her Volkswagen Polo collided with a marked police Volvo in Welwyn Garden City.

Charlotte Phillips, 19, a passenger in the Polo was also hurt in the crash and is in intensive care in hospital.

Two policemen hurt in the crash are in a comfortable condition in hospital.

The incident happened in Stanborough Road near the Hertfordshire Police headquarters.

Charlotte Phillips, 19, a passenger in the Polo was also hurt in the crash

On Thursday, Ms Edwards' parents Mark and Lin paid tribute to their daughter.

In a statement, they said: "Our daughter Charlotte was a joy.

"Her calm inner strength helped her to deal with all life's challenges in a thoughtful, measured way; her sheer love of life and fundamentally good nature endeared her to all who knew her."

Ms Phillips, who went to St Albans High School for Girls with Ms Edwards, is still being treated for her injuries in the intensive care unit at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.

A message was posted on the school website about the accident.

"Charlotte (Edwards) is remembered as a young woman with great potential and was training to be a primary school teacher at the Roehampton Institute," it said.

Two police officers were in the Volvo estate car

"Our thoughts go out also to Charlotte Phillips, another former student who remains seriously injured as a result of this accident and for whose recovery we earnestly pray."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is supervising the investigation into the crash, as a police car was involved.

Bedfordshire Police traffic officers have also been called in to investigate the circumstances.

An IPCC spokesman said initial inquiries showed the police vehicle was not answering an emergency call at the time of the collision and that the Polo appeared to be on the wrong side of the road.