The heartbroken family of an 18-year-old killed in a car accident say she was “so beautiful, inside and out”.

Lucy Billingham was in a Ford Fiesta that crashed into the Old Gate Inn pub in New Dover Road, Canterbury, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

She had been out at a nightclub and was on her way to a hotel less than a mile away from where tragedy struck.

Her devastated sister, Jess Kemsley, says Lucy was a popular, friendly and funny young woman who dreamed of working in the music industry.

“Lucy really was special to us - she had such a beautiful soul,” she said.

“She was so beautiful, inside and out.

“Words can’t do her justice. I just can’t find the words that truly describe how brilliant she was.”

Lucy had been at Club Chemistry in Canterbury in the hours before the accident.

She was heading for the Ebury Hotel in New Dover Road when the car she was in crashed into the pub at 4.20am.

There were four other people in the Ford, who all suffered injuries.

The driver, a 20-year-old man, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has since been bailed.

“As much as we know, she was out clubbing and just wanted to get back to somewhere warm and cosy,” said Jess.

“She’d booked to stay the night in a hotel with a friend.

“She was always out doing things, enjoying life.

“She was so outgoing. She had so many friends who love her as much as we do.”

The former Sittingbourne School pupil grew up in Faversham with her two brothers and a sister.

The family previously lost a child when brother Harry was delivered stillborn in 2003, a year before Lucy’s birth.

“I hope people remember her as the bubbly, fun-loving, beautiful person that I do...”

Jess, a mum-of-two, said: “All four of us grew up in Faversham, but as we grew older we all went to different schools and did different things.

“Between losing Harry and doing our own things in life, it made the time we had together so special.

“She loved spending time with the family, especially her nieces. We all got on really well as a family.”

Jess described the hardships Lucy had to overcome in life from a young age, including the death of her father two years ago.

“For the first five years of her life, she didn’t cry or didn’t talk, and we were all worried about how life would be for her growing up,” she said.

“And losing our dad when she was 16, that’s not an easy thing to experience at that age.

“So, looking back on it, she did so well to be the beautiful, friendly and funny young woman she was.”

After leaving school following her GCSEs, Lucy went to study at SupaJam college in Swanley - a specialist music college - and harboured dreams of entering the music industry.

“She was obsessed with Little Mix, but she loved to listen to anything,” said Jess.

“She had such a passion for music - she’d have loved to have been able to work in the music industry.

“She’d just started to come out of her shell, just starting her life out.”

Jess, 23, says Lucy’s personality is what she will be best remembered for.

“We gave her the nickname Peppa Pig because she snorted when she laughed, and she used to laugh so much,” she said.

“A day with Lucy would be full of laughter - she was such a bubbly character.

“Lucy and our nan used to always tease each other about having July birthdays.She could find something funny in everything.

With four kids, the Kemsley/Billingham household was always busy.

“Mum jokes that Lucy was hard work, but we all made life hectic,” said former Canterbury Academy pupil Jess.

“She used to have her moments - she could be hard work - but what teenager isn’t? I was exactly the same.

“I’m five years older, so we didn’t always see eye to eye, but we both knew how much love we had for each other.

“I hope people remember her as the bubbly, fun-loving, beautiful person that I do.”

Lucy is survived by mother Heather, sister Jess, brothers Robert and Michael, brother-in-law Joe and nieces Rosina and Delilah.