TRIBUTES have been paid to a teenager killed in a head-on car crash in Lanarkshire at the weekend.

Friends described Aaron Lee, 19, from Hamilton as "an angel" and said the teenager had a "heart of gold".

Mr Lee was killed when two cars collided on the B7078 Carlisle Road, around a mile north of the village of Blackwood in South Lanarkshire, on Friday.

The 19-year-old, who was a passenger in a Seat Ibiza car, died at the scene.

Police said his relatives were aware and a report would be sent to the procurator fiscal.

The collision has left also three other people in hospital, including a five-year-old girl who is said to have serious injuries.

Police are appealing for anyone with information on the crash, which occurred around 6.15pm, to come forward.

The 25-year-old male driver of the Seat Ibiza is understood to be in a serious condition at Wishaw General Hospital in North Lanarkshire.

A 55-year-old man who was driving the other car involved in the crash, a Nissan Micra, is in a stable condition at the hospital, while a five-year-old girl who was also in the Micra is being treated for serious injuries at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.

Friends of Mr Lee posted a photograph of him on Facebook yesterday, with the caption "fly high angel".

One of his friends, Chelsea Millar, has invited his friends and loved ones to attend a ceremony at Netherburn football pitch in Hamilton on Wednesday April 6 where blue balloons will be released in his memory.

She added: "It would be much appreciated if everyone could please share this post to get it about so people know about it and please add people who knew Aaron or people who would like to join.

"Everyone is welcome."

The tragedy comes less than a year after the teenager proudly showed off a new tattoo in memory of murder victim, Ryan Kenny, who was stabbed to death aged 17 in 2005.

Mr Lee posted pictures on Facebook in September last year of the tattoo, which read: 'Ryan Kenny, 1988-2005'.

It is understood that Ryan Kenny, from East Kilbride, was Mr Lee's older cousin.

Another 17-year-old, Stephen Dickson, was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years for Ryan's murder.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that the killing took place in Dickson's bedroom, in the Greenshills area of East Kilbride, on March 27 2005.

Dickson denied murder and told the court that he had stabbed his friend as a "complete accident".

The court heard that Dickson told Ryan, who was lying on a bed: "If you are not up in the next five seconds I am going to stab you."

Ryan stood up, pulled up his top and told Dickson "go for it". Dickson picked up a knife lying on a nearby cabinet and plunged it into Ryan.

He refused to call an ambulance and brandished a crowbar at two other friends in a bid to prevent them leaving the room.

Just minutes before the stabbing, the friends had been laughing and chatting.

The Kenny family also endured tragedy in 1996, when Ryan's father, Christopher, died suddenly aged just 36.