THE family of a much-loved teen who lost her life in a tragic car accident have the coroners call for a Graduated Driving Licence.

Skye Mitchell and Caitlin Huddleston, 18, both from Millom had been travelling on the A595 coast road from the town with their friend Ellis Marr for a planned meal out on July 14 last year.

A coroner, sitting at Barrow Town Hall, heard Miss Mitchell appeared to have lost control of her Toyota Yaris on a bend in the road near Bootle.

The vehicle collided with an oncoming Transit van driven by Patrick Troll, the hearing was told.

Several passing motorists stopped to help almost immediately after the crash.

However, despite all efforts, both Miss Mitchell and Miss Huddleston, who were A level students, suffered fatal injuries in the impact and were pronounced dead at the scene.

Miss Marr, who had been travelling in the rear seat of the Yaris, was seriously injured and spent five months in hospital.

Mr Troll was also badly hurt and remains in hospital.

Assistant coroner for Cumbria, Robert Chapman plans to write a Regulation 28 letter to the Department for Transport outlining the circumstances of the accident in a bid to help prevent any further loss of life in the future.

The letter will call for discussions into whether a graduated approach for new drivers should be introduced nationwide, preventing anyone who has recently passed their test from taking passengers with them for a set period.

Speaking following the inquest on Friday, Skye’s mum Sharon Fry, said: “Our family fully support the coroner’s recommendation to the department of transport for a graduated drivers scheme and would advocate any campaign to bring about this change in the hope of saving lives in the future.

“However as confirmed by the police collision investigator; on this occasion the presence of an older, experienced driver would not have prevented this tragic accident. We will never know the reason why Skye lost control of her car that evening; as the coroner said it may have been due to her inexperience and the speed at which she was travelling, however it was proved that she was not speeding and was travelling within the speed limit of the road and also below the safe limit for that bend. Maybe she was distracted, if so by what? These are questions we will always ask ourselves but sadly will never know the answers to.

“What we do know is that Skye was giving a lift to her friends that night and she did not set out with the intention of hurting them or having an accident in her car. We hope the other families concerned can understand and accept this. Despite our own grief, our family will always remember with love, Skye’s friend Caitlin and we pray for her and for her family.

“We send our love to Ellis and Patrick and their families together with all who were affected by this awful tragedy. We would like to extend our thanks to the emergency services and the members of the public who helped tirelessly at the scene that night.

“On July 14 2017 we lost the light of our lives, our darling Skye who had so much more to give and a promising life ahead. We have to live our lives with a Skye shaped hole that will never be filled. We miss and grieve for her every single day.

“The pain of losing her is unimaginable and this pain will be a constant in our lives forever.

“Skye was a lovely, caring girl who would do anything to help anyone. She supported and raised money for many charities through her involvement in the pageants and in our community.

“Our family has set up a charity ‘A Skye Full of Stars’ dedicated to Skye’s memory to raise money, to help young people achieve their dreams and ambitions. We will continue to channel our grief into something positive just as we know she would have wanted us to.”