A MEMORIAL bench has been unveiled as a lasting tribute to a Ribble Valley teenager who was killed in a car crash.

Matthew Alston, 18, died in August after the smash in Whalley Road, Read.

Police said the former Clitheroe Grammar pupil, of Scott Avenue, Simonstone, lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa and crashed into a Seat Toledo travelling in the opposite dir-ection.

Two off-duty police officers were in that vehicle, but did not suffer serious injuries.

Since the tragedy, Matthew’s friends and family have atten-ded a memorial and fundraising evening in the Rendezvous nightclub, Whalley, raising cash for the bench, which has been placed near to the site of the crash.

A close family friend, who did not want to be named, said: “It is somewhere for everyone who knew Matthew to go and think about how he was such a superstar lad.

“His family will never come to terms with what happened and he will always be in everyone’s thoughts.

"It is still a very difficult time and I am not sure if they will ever truly cope with it but we hope the memorial bench will be somewhere they can go and reflect.”

The former Simonstone Prim-ary School pupil had just finished his A-levels at Clitheroe Grammar.

He was preparing to study international business at a university in the North East.

He had worked in sales at weekends for the Rufus Carr Ltd Ford dealer, in Clitheroe, for two years.

Police are preparing a file for the coroner to stage an inquest into Matthew's death which will be on November 24 in Blackburn.

The A671 Whalley Road has seen a number of serious acci-dents over the years, particularly at the Devil’s Elbow bend a mile from where Matthew crashed.

Matthew left dad Andrew, mum Janet, and younger brother Hayden.