A 15-year-old schoolboy was killed today when the car he was in smashed into a parked Army truck while fleeing from a panda car, police said.

The 16-year-old driver of the Ford Sierra escaped with minor head injuries despite the car snapping in half on impact.

The incident happened shortly after a police panda car pulled up close behind the Ford Sierra and activated its lights to make the car pull over.

Durham Police said the car then sped off and hit the Army vehicle, a four tonne truck, which was parked by the side of the A68 at Fir Tree, near Crook, County Durham.

Police named the victim as Liam Amos, who lived with his widowed mother Caroline in Dunelm Chare, Escomb, near Bishop Auckland, and who had two sisters and two stepbrothers.

He was a pupil at Bishop Barrington School, in Bishop Auckland, where a number of pupils were today allowed home after hearing of the incident.

Headteacher Keith Cotgrave said a number of pupils had been deeply shocked by the news and were sent home, others were being offered counselling.

Police were alerted after the Ford Sierra was seen being driven in Wolsingham in the early hours and was later spotted by two officers in a panda car.

The Army truck was parked behind another Army vehicle and soldiers were busy changing a shredded tyre on the front vehicle when the Sierra hit the rear truck. The car then split in half.

None of the Army personnel, who police said had put a warning triangle and beacon on the unlit road, were injured in the incident.

A police spokesman said: ''Police have launched an investigation following a road traffic accident which claimed the life of a young boy.

''Moments before the accident a police panda car had driven up behind the Sierra and activated its blue lights requiring the car to stop.

''The Sierra sped off and seconds later crashed into a broken down Army vehicle which was parked at the side of the A68.

''The Sierra was split in two as a result of the impact.

''The 16-year-old driver escaped with minor injuries but his front seat passenger, Liam Warren Amos, was certified dead at Durham's University Hospital.''

He added that the driver of the car, who was released from hospital after treatment for minor head injuries, was due to be questioned about the incident at a later date.