Former Royal Navy Wren Vicky Pickering (27), who lived in Chatham Crescent, Colne, as a child, had been travelling from her home in Portsmouth to pay a surprise visit to her family in Scotland.

Her grandmother, Mary Pickering (81), of Red Lane, told how Vicky had arranged for her father Colin to do a sky dive on his 50th birthday and was making the trip with Zoe West (34) to see how it had gone.

Vicky and Zoe had reached Bilsborrow when the four-vehicle collision happened at 1-15 a.m. on Friday, July 4th. Vicky was pronounced dead at the scene and Zoe, who was driving the Ford Escort, was left with severe injuries and died the next day in the Royal Preston Hospital.

Vicky's two beloved white German Shepherd dogs were also travelling in the car. Youkie (6) was hurt yet is expected to make a full recovery, and Tico (2) escaped unharmed.

A former pupil of St Michael and All Angels' Primary School, Foulridge, Vicky moved to Scotland aged seven with her mother Glenys (49), father Colin and three brothers, Shane (28) and twins Stuart and Richard (22).

Growing up in Gairloch, Vicky learned to sail with her family. Her father is a coastguard, and at 17 she joined the Royal Navy and HMS Invincible, where she worked for five years as a fire-fighter and stores accountant. Her grandmother said she loved her work and on leaving the Navy, continued to work as a stores accountant.

In Portsmouth, she enjoyed spending time with her boyfriend Keith George.

Family members from Pendle will make the trip to Gairloch on Monday for her funeral.