STUDENTS at Cirencester College have been left mourning following the shock news that one of their peers was killed in a car accident during the Christmas holidays.

Rory Evans, 18, from Wotton-under-Edge, died on Friday, December 27 after his car collided with a van on the notorious B4058 Wotton Road, between Wotton and Charfield.

The A-level accounting student was driving a silver-grey Toyota Roadster MR2 when it was involved in a collision with a white Nissan van on a bend in the road.

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 1.30pm with police setting up a road block and members of the ambulance service and fire brigade tending to the victims.

The driver of the van, a 49-year-old man from Wotton, sustained torso injuries in the crash while his female passenger received injuries to her legs.

The pair were taken to hospital but it is not thought that the injuries are life changing.

A spokesman for Cirencester College said: “It was with great sadness that Cirencester College staff and students learned the news of Rory’s death in a road accident over the Christmas period.

“Rory was a popular member of the class, who would be greatly missed by his lecturers and his peers. He brought good humour to the classroom, often engendering lively debate and even hilarity. He was simply a lovely student and a pleasure to teach.”

The college has since set up a book of ‘positive memories’ at the reception desk where staff and students can leave messages that will then be passed on to Rory’s family.

Following the news, friends of Rory took to social networking site Twitter to pay tribute to someone who was “sadly taken too young”.

One user wrote: “RIP Rory. You were far, far too young. I cannot believe this has happened. My thoughts go out to the Evans family.”

Family and friends of Rory attended a candlelit vigil in his memory at St Mary’s Church in Wotton on Thursday, January 2.

Anyone who witnessed the accident is urged to contact Gloucestershire Police on 101 quoting incident 267 of December 27.