MISS North West has paid tribute to a fellow beauty queen who tragically died in a car accident.

Lucy Physick, from Westhoughton, was friends with 18-year-old Skye Mitchell, a former Junior Miss North West, who was killed along with Caitlin Huddleston, also 18, in a crash in Cumbria on Friday night.

The pair were in a Toyota Yaris that collided with a Ford Transit van near Bootle.

Miss Physick, aged 24, said she knew the teenager as part of the North West team and paid tribute to Miss Mitchell's work to fight bullying.

She said: "We received some devastating news at the weekend that one of our friends who took part in Junior Miss North West died in a crash.

"I knew her from when I started competing in the Miss England and she was here being a junior.

"She had such a bright future. For me personally, I always thought she could be a Miss England and event a Miss World. She just had so much about her and she is a massive loss for everybody."

The Miss North West team are still coming to terms with the tragedy but Miss Physick said they were planning to carry on Miss Mitchell's anti-bullying campaign.

She said: "At the moment there is a lot of focus on Skye and we are all completely shaken but she would want us to carry on.

"We will all remember her in our own little team North West way."

Miss Mitchell was from Millom in Cumbria and as well as being a former Junior Miss North West in 2014 and 2015, she was also a Junior Miss South Lakes in 2012.

She launched her own anti-bullying campaign as part of her work and reportedly had dreams to become a broadcast journalist.

Miss Mitchell's family paid tribute to her and said she 'made the world a better place'.