By Ted JeoryTRIBUTES have been paid to a woman who died when she was involved in a collision with a police car.Sandra Stirling, of Lister Road, Braintree, was killed in the accident, which happened at about 1.

TRIBUTES have been paid to a woman who died when she was involved in a collision with a police car.

Sandra Stirling, of Lister Road, Braintree, was killed in the accident, which happened at about 1.30am on February 3 on the A120 near the Notley flyover.

She was involved in a collision with an Essex Police 4x4 vehicle and the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the crash, has confirmed Ms Stirling was alive just before the collision.

A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Stirling, 33, died from multiple injuries, but investigators are awaiting the results of further tests.

In a tribute issued yesterday, Ms Stirling's grieving family said she had been living in the Braintree for about eight years and loved the area and its people.

“She loved Braintree as there were a lot of social activities going on and people to meet. She always seemed to be a popular person amongst her circle of friends,” they added. “We will greatly miss her.”

Her mother, who has not been named, said her daughter was “lovely” and someone who never grew up.

Trained on computers, Ms Stirling mainly worked as a secretary, which her family said she enjoyed.

They added: “Although Sandra did not have children of her own, she took great comfort from her four nephews.

“It was always a wish of Sandra that one day she would have her own children. However, Sandra did have three cats called Brandon, Storm and Dipsy, all of which brought her an immense amount of pleasure.”

For the past 10 years, one of Ms Stirling's interests was collecting different types of Teddy Bears and she had wanted to travel to Australia.

Anyone with information about the accident should contact Braintree police on 01376 551312.