THE teenager who died following a road traffic accident on Friday afternoon has been named as popular schoolgirl Eleanor Austin. The 15-year-old was seriously injured after being hit by a car along the A405 in Bricket Wood, near the Chequers Lane junction

THE teenager who died following a road traffic accident on Friday afternoon has been named as popular schoolgirl Eleanor Austin.

The 15-year-old was seriously injured after being hit by a car along the A405 in Bricket Wood, near the Chequers Lane junction, and lost her fight for life in hospital yesterday.

Eleanor, who lives in Bricket Wood, was initially taken to St Mary's Hospital in London before being transferred to Charing Cross Hospital, where she died.

Tributes have flooded into a group set up in memory of the Parmiter's School pupil on social networking site Facebook, which already has well over 1,000 members.

Eleanor's headmaster, Brian Coulshed, has also paid tribute to her as a popular and successful student.

He said: "At Parmiter's, we were immensely saddened to be informed of the tragic death this week of one of our Year 11 students, Eleanor Austin. Eleanor was a very popular and successful student, who had many friends and who was very well-liked by her teachers.

"We are providing support for our grieving community and we much appreciate the sympathy the school has received, from so many people and organisations.

He added: "Our thoughts are with Eleanor's family and many friends and we will continue to provide support for them at this very difficult time."

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about Friday's accident, which happened at around 3.45pm and involved a silver Peugeot 207 which was travelling northbound towards St Albans.

Anyone with information should contact Pc Ian Breacher, a serious traffic incident investigator, via the non-emergency number on 0845 33 00 222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.