Grieving family pays tribute to driver who died after his car crashed on the M60 and ended up on its roof

Anthony Pilling, 37, was 'one in a billion', said his family. He died on New Year's Eve

A grieving family has paid tribute to a motorist who died in on New Year's Eve following a devastating crash on the M60. Anthony Pilling, who was 37, was 'the life and soul of any room he walked into' and 'one in a billion', they said.

Mr Pilling, from Gorton, died on Sunday, December 31, a day after the car he was driving was in collision with another vehicle on the anticlockwise carriageway of the M60 near Stockport. The motorway was closed following the collision at 5.41am on Saturday between junctions 25 and 24.

National Highways said at the time that the car struck a near-side barrier, overturned and ended up on its roof. The casualty was cut free from the wreckage and taken to Salford Royal Hospital but he died the following day.

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Mr Pilling's family today (Thursday) released a tribute which said: "Anthony was the life and soul of any room he walked in to; he would have you crying with laughter with his little one-liners.

"Our Ant lived his life to the fullest and danced like nobody was watching. He was one in a billion and if love could have saved him, he would have lived forever.

"We as a family would like to say thank you to all of the emergency services who tried to save our Ant. We appreciate everything you all did to help. We now would like the time to grieve for our Anthony."

The driver of the other vehicle remained at the scene to assist police, said GMP. No arrests have been made as the investigation into the crash continues. Mr Pilling's death has been referred to the coroner.

Police are appealing for any witnesses, or anyone who may have dashcam footage of the incident, to come forward and help with enquiries.

Information can be shared by calling GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0161 856 4741 quoting incident number 662-30/12/2023. You can also report information to GMP's website using the ‘report’ tool www.gmp.police.uk.

Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.