'My beautiful boy': Heartbreaking tributes to much-loved Penwortham boy, 8, killed by van

Flowers, balloons, drawings and photographs have been left where the tragedy unfolded in Bilsborough Hey, Kingsfold, on Tuesday, August 1.

The boy has been named locally as Layton.

Among the tributes is one from ‘Mummy’.

It says: “Layton I love you so, so, so much. You completed my life.

"Every room you walked into, it lit up.

"You made Mummy so proud, my boy.

"I miss you so much darling boy!

"Life will never be the same without you. I know you will always be with me.

"My best friend – my beautiful son.”

Others say “fly high little man”, and: “You will never be forgotten by anyone with your bubbly personality.

"We lost you too soon little man, you’ll be eight forever. We all miss you so much.”

There is also a card and flowers left from staff at a nearby school, who have been rocked by the incident.

What happened?

Emergency services to reports of a collision between a black Ford Transit and the boy at around 4.20pm on Tuesday, August 1.

Two air ambulances landed in nearby fields off Bee Lane and a senior commander was deployed to the scene to oversee the emergency response.

He was taken to Royal Preston Hospital by road but sadly died a short time later.

Lancashire Police said an investigation is taking place to establish exactly how the tragedy occurred.

“Our thoughts are very much with his family, friends and the wider community as they come to terms with such a heartbreaking incident,” said a police spokesperson, who added that the boy’s family are being supported by specially-trained officers.

Can you help?

The force would like to speak to any witnesses, or anybody with CCTV or dashcam, who has not yet spoken to an officer.

Supt Gary Crowe, of Lancashire Police’s South Division, said: “First and foremost we send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the boy who died.

"This was a heartbreaking incident and they will be in our thoughts for a very long time.

“We also appreciate the impact this will have had on the wider community and we thank them for their understanding and patience while we carried out a meticulous analysis of the scene yesterday.

“We are now determined to get answers about what occurred and are appealing for anybody with information to come forward.

"If you saw the collision, or saw either the boy or the van in the moments before it happened, please get in touch.

"Similarly if you have dashcam or CCTV and have not yet spoken to officers, please contact us.”

Police closed the road, close to Bilsborough Hey cul-de-sac, while officers and paramedics worked at the scene. Police remained at the scene until late in the evening to investigate the incident.

Anybody with information is asked to get in touch on 101, quoting log 971 of August 1.