TRIBUTES have been paid to a father and son who died in a car crash at the weekend.

Shaun Gellatly, 28, and his father Malcolm, or Mally, 48, were said to be 'more like best mates'. They died in the early hours of Sunday morning when the Rover in which they were back seat passengers left the A177 at Bowburn, near Durham, and overturned.

Shaun's widow Amanda Bamling-Gellatly, of Park Avenue, Coxhoe, said: "Both of them had a real twinkle in their eyes and lovely cheeky smiles.

"They did our decking and used to decorate together but would end up messing about rather than doing work. They would be hitting each other on the head with pieces of wood and that sort of thing.

"They broke the mould when they made those two."

Amanda married childhood sweetheart Shaun just 11 months ago and the couple were planning to start a family. They met on a blind date when they were 15 and have been together ever since.

Amanda said: "There was never a day that would go by when he didn't say 'I love you' - even if we had a row.

"It is so hard because we were going to have children but Shaun wanted to get the house ready first. He loved kids and couldn't wait to have his own."

A forklift truck driver, Shaun was made redundant from Electrolux last Friday but had already attended an interview for another job.

Mally, 48, of Westfield Way, Redcar, East Cleveland, was a charge hand at Brands Pre-cast at South Bank in Middlesbrough.

He spent many weekends visiting his son's family in County Durham.

Amanda said: "Mally used to make everyone laugh and was always telling jokes.

"The whole community is devastated. We have had loads of people coming round and have got a stack of sympathy cards as big as a house.

"We'd like to thank our family and friends who have been there for us."

An inquest into the deaths of Shaun and Mally was opened and adjourned on Wednesday.