THE mother of a talented teenager who died in a car crash last night paid tribute to her "perfect son".

Richard Clemot-Escobar, 18, died along with his friend Katy Linighan, 18, when the Vauxhall Astra they were travelling in overturned on the A19 dual carriageway near Hartlepool.

Two other teenagers in the car, a young man and a woman, both also 18, were last night in hospital with serious injuries.

Police said the red P-reg car had been heading north when it left the road, turned over and hit trees just after midnight on Tuesday.

Mr Clemot-Escobar, of Stockton Road, Hartlepool, who died at the scene, played piano and cello to a high standard and was described as potential Oxbridge material by teachers at the town's English Martyr's School, where he was a sixth-form pupil.

His mother, Elizabeth Ann, a French teacher at the school, said: "Richard was the perfect son, our pride and joy.

"He was developing into a fine young man, who was popular with his family and friends and who had a great future ahead of him.

"It is impossible to take this in at the moment and we as a family need time to come to terms with what has happened."

She said her son, who gained nine A* GSCEs, was "a gift from God that had been cruelly taken away".

He leaves his father, Adolfo, known locally as Alf the Decorator, a 17-year-old sister, Elizabeth, and a 24-year-old brother, Jon.

The family of Ms Linighan, from the Clavering area of Hartlepool, were last night too distraught to speak.

The injured man, from Hartlepool, was last night being treated in Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital. His condition was critical, but stable.

The woman, also from Hartlepool, was taken to Sunderland Eye Infirmary, where she remained last night.

Police said no other car was involved and have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which took place two miles north of the A689 interchange and less than half-a-mile south of Dalton Lane.

Witnesses have been asked to contact police on (01642) 301558.