Family's tribute to 'beautiful' 16-year-old killed after farm bike crashes in field in Burnley

The family of a 16-year-old who died after his farm bike crashed has paid tribute to a ‘beautiful, kind and lovely’ boy.

Hector Eccles died after the farmyard vehicle he was riding crashed into a field in Worsthorne, Lancashire on Saturday, 30 March, just after midnight.

The teenager, who was from the rural town which is located two miles away from Burnley, crashed while on a Polaris Ranger Farmbike.

His vehicle veered out of a carriageway and onto Extwistle Road at around 12:40am.

Hector Eccles did not survive his injuries. His passenger, a 17-year-old boy from Burnley, was not seriously injured.

In tribute, his family released a photo of Hector holding a lamb and thanked everyone who had sent their sympathies.

They wrote: “This is our Hector on his farm with his animals, where he loved to spend is time.

“Always happiest: on the farm, at Gisburn Auction or with his friends and colleagues in Pendle Young Farmers.

“Hector will always be in our hearts and minds, we will always remember our: beautiful, kind and lovely boy.”

Sgt Martin Wilcock, from our Road Policing Unit, said: “This collision has resulted in a teenager losing his life and my thoughts remain with Hector’s loved ones at this difficult time.

“Having carried out extensive work to establish the circumstances of what led to the collision, we are satisfied that this is no longer a criminal investigation and we are now carrying out enquiries on behalf of the Coroner.

"With that in mind, I would ask any witnesses or anyone with dashcam covering the area around that time to contact the police.

“A family is grieving and I would ask the public - particularly those on social media - not to engage in any unhelpful, unnecessary and hurtful speculation.”

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