Ref. 30798-1FRIENDS of a teenager who died in a car smash have called on the driver, who disappeared after the accident, to give himself up.

Part of Pinehurst Road was blocked off yesterday evening as about 200 people gathered to remember Matthew Styles, who was killed in the crash on Sunday night.

The driver of the Ford Mondeo, in which Matthew, 19, was a passenger, was last night being sought by police.

The crash happened just before midnight on Sunday when the car carrying four men and driven by missing Gary Huckin of Naunton Road, Walcot, clipped the kerb and smashed into a tree. Two young men in the back seat were thrown out.

Matthew, of Whiteman Street, Gorse Hill, was killed and another young man critically injured.

Yesterday it emerged Matthew known to all his friends as Styler may have accepted a lift into the town centre after meeting Mr Huckin for the first time at a barbecue.

As the shock of the crash sank in, Matthew's friends coned off part of the road and stood before the flower-covered crash site to pay their respects at about 6pm yesterday.

Afterwards, some appealed to Mr Huckin to come forward and contact the police. "It is despicable. I think he should face up to what has happened," said Deena Earley. "It would be better for him."

Another friend, who would give his name only as Leon, said: " He must give himself up. Someone has to take responsibility for this. At the end of the day Matthew has a mum who has been left alone."

Matthew's distraught mother, Ann, was offered comfort by the youngsters at the scene. "Like most mums of teenage boys I don't think she realised how many friends he had," said Leon.

He explained that Matthew's friends had decided to block off the road to give people a chance to lay tributes and remember him without having to dodge traffic on the busy route.

He said the area came in for a lot of criticism but "when stuff like this happens then you realise how strong the community spirit is". Struggling to hold back tears, the friend described Matthew as a "very loving person".

"He was always one for having a laugh," he said.

Mrs Earley, of West Pinehurst, said the sport-mad Olive Grove football team member was a very outgoing and friendly young man. "Really, you couldn't ask for a better teenager. He was a very popular lad."

Denise Ludlow, who lives close to the crash site told how she heard a bang. "I thought they had hit the cars in our drive," she said.

When she went out she saw the Mondeo out in the road with two figures on the ground nearby.

One of them was obviously injured "I ran in to call an ambulance and then I went and sat with one of them. Several people did."

She said traffic often charged down the road in an attempt to get through the chicanes installed to slow it down before cars coming the other way could stop them.

"It is like a race track," she said. "You can't let your children come out to play."

Yesterday Mr Huckin was not at his flat, but a neighbour said he often went out on Sunday night.

"This is a real shock," he said. "I only really knew him to say hello to, but he seemed an OK bloke."

The critically injured passenger was yesterday in intensive care at the Great Western Hospital.

Anyone with information should call police on 01793 528111.

Tina Clarke