Family's tribute to 'beautiful, kind and lovely boy' who died in Worsthorne collision

The family of a teenager who died after his vehicle came off the carriageway in Worsthorne have paid a loving tribute to him.

Officers were called to Extwistle Road at 12.41am yesterday (30th March) following reports a Polaris Ranger Farmbike had left the carriageway and crashed in a field. No other vehicles were involved.

The driver - 16-year-old Hector Eccles from Worsthorne - did not survive his injuries.

His passenger - a 17-year-old man from Burnley - was not seriously injured.

In a tribute, Hector’s family wrote: “We would like to thank everyone for the kind words and sympathy over the last few days.

“This is our Hector on his farm with his animals, where he loved to spend is time.

“Always happiest: on the farm, at Gisburn Auction or with his friends and colleagues in Pendle Young Farmers.

“Hector will always be in our hearts and minds, we will always remember our: beautiful, kind and lovely boy.”

Sgt Martin Wilcock, from the Road Policing Unit, said: “This collision has resulted in a teenager losing his life and my thoughts remain with Hector’s loved ones at this difficult time.

“Having carried out extensive work to establish the circumstances of what led to the collision, we are satisfied that this is no longer a criminal investigation and we are now carrying out enquiries on behalf of the Coroner. With that in mind, I would ask any witnesses or anyone with dashcam covering the area around that time to contact the police.

“A family is grieving and I would ask the public - particularly those on social media - not to engage in any unhelpful, unnecessary and hurtful speculation.”

Email sciu@lancashire.police.uk or call 101, quoting log 45 of 30th March 2024.