Tributes have been paid to a "caring and compassionate" university graduate from Upminster who died in a crash on the A13.

Grace Payne had just began a job at an architects firm and "was a 21-year-old starting to live life to the full" when she was killed in Dagenham on November 25.

She was a passenger in a Toyota Prius that collided with a van which was travelling the wrong way down the Essexbound carriageway.

Grace's parents said: “Grace’s death has left us, along with the rest of her family and friends, devastated. We are struggling to come to terms with the fact that our daughter will never be coming home.

"She made us proud in so many ways. She was caring, compassionate, bright, funny, bubbly - her friends always said that she had the ability to brighten up their day.

"When she walked out of a room, she left everyone feeling happier than when she had walked in. She always wanted to help, always wanted to make people happy."

Grace graduated from the University of Kent with a degree in history and philosophy this year and her long-term goal was to become a primary school teacher, they said.

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She spent the summer travelling across Europe with friends.

"She passed her driving test, celebrated her 21st birthday and started work with an architects firm in London which she instantly loved.

"It had been a very happy, exciting, busy year. She was a 21-year-old starting to live life to the full after the confinements of Covid."

The van involved in the collision, which happened at around 2.35am, allegedly failed to stop for Essex Police officers before entering the A13.

Essex officers had followed the vehicle using the correct side of the road, the Met Police said.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the circumstances leading up to the collision, including the involvement of the Essex Police officers before the crash.

The van driver, a 39-year-old man, is in a serious condition in hospital.

He has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop for police. He remains in police custody in hospital.

The driver of the Prius is receiving treatment in hospital but is not thought to have been seriously injured, according to a Met spokesperson.

The force's serious collision investigation unit is probing the collision.

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