A COMMUNITY was in mourning yesterday at news that one of its most popular residents was killed in a car accident.

Jean Glass, of Woodhouse Close Estate, Bishop Auckland, died on Wednesday after the collision near Spennymoor.

Friends from the estate have paid tribute to the 53-year-old they said was one of the friendliest people they knew.

Her partner of 17 years, George Lowson, 66, said: "You couldn't meet a nicer person than Jean. She went out of her way to get along with everyone.

"She will be a real miss to a lot of people because she was always around to give a helping hand.

"Jean was so active and took part in lots of clubs and made good friends at them all, she was a bingo fanatic and had started adult training classes at Bishop Auckland College."

She leaves a 22-year-old son, John, who lives in Bishop Auckland.

Mrs Glass was a regular at Tindale Crescent WMC, a luncheon club in Newton Aycliffe, and the classes at Bishop Auckland College.

She had been looking forward to a week's holiday to the Isle of Wight with fellow members of Henknowle Hard of Hearing Club.

Betty Douthwaite, said: "We were really close, she used to call me mum. Jean was a fun-loving person, a great character whenever she was out and always up for a laugh."

Close friend Maureen Webb added: "She certainly was the life and soul of the party, she was a good friend to so many people."

Mrs Glass had been a passenger in a friend's Ford Fiesta when it was involved in a collision with a Ford Escort at 7.30pm. It was turning into the Westerton lay-by on the A688 and turned into the path of the oncoming vehicle and overturned on impact.

Mrs Glass was certified dead at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

The driver, a 58-year-old man from Coatham Mundeville, near Darlington, remains in intensive care at University Hospital of North Durham where his condition is described as poorly but stable. The front seat passenger, a 51-year-old Newton Aycliffe woman, is at the same hospital in a comfortable state.

The driver of the Escort, a 47-year-old woman from Bishop Auckland, was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital but released the same night.

Witnesses to the accident are asked to call Durham Police accident unit on 0191-375 2159.