Youngsters sobbed with grief yesterday after their 15-year-old friend was killed in a horrific high speed crash with a stationary Army truck.

The teenagers were sent home from school in shock after learning of the death of Liam Amos, from Escomb, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

He was a passenger in a car which was being pursued by police on the A68 near Fir Tree in the early hours of yesterday.

The car's driver, a 16-year-old boy from the Bishop Auckland area, escaped with minor head injuries, even though the impact was so fierce that the E-registration Ford Sierra disintegrated.

The Police Complaints Authority is supervising an investigation into the accident.

The crash happened seconds after the police driver switched on his blue warning light, signalling the Sierra to pull over.

Instead of stopping, the car accelerated past warning signs put out by soldiers and slammed into the four tonne lorry, one of two which had parked by the side of the road.

Both were on their way from exercises on the Otterburn range in Northumberland when one truck towing a trailer pulled up with a shredded tyre.

There were Army personnel in both vehicles at the time of the accident but they were unhurt. The A68 was closed for more than six hours.

The officers in the police car were said to be deeply shocked by the tragedy.

They had followed the car for three miles from Wolsingham, travelling some distance behind, until it turned south from Harperley roundabout.

The officers had been on routine patrol when a resident told them he had seen the Sierra "acting suspiciously". It was not reported stolen.

Last night, Liam's widowed mother, Caroline, was being comforted at her home in Dunelm Chare.

Liam, who had two sisters and two step-brothers, was a pupil at Bishop Barrington School, in Bishop Auckland.

Headteacher Keith Cotgrave said: "A number of pupils have been so deeply affected by Liam's death that they have been sent home. Other pupils will be offered counselling."

In Escomb, groups of youngsters huddled together for comfort. One resident said: "Most of the girls were in tears. They were heartbroken. This is a close community and the kids all knock around together.

"Liam's mother is a nice woman and everybody is rallying round."

A police spokesman said that the Sierra's driver, who has not been named, would be questioned later. He said: "The car was not reported stolen but the driver was not legally old enough to drive."