PARENTS have paid tribute to their son who died after being hit by a runaway van when the driver apparently left the handbrake off.

Dave Smith, pictured, was little more than a week into his new IT job at a bank in London when the accident happened.

The van mounted the pavement in Pudding Lane, opposite London's Monument tube station.

Dave, aged 24, who was on his lunch break, was taken to hospital, but died from his injuries.

A woman, believed to be in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, aged 51, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and has been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Police are investigating claims he left his handbrake off as he made a delivery.

Dave's parents, Tom and Denise Smith, who live in Cedar Avenue, Alsager, said the family was still coming to terms with the news of Friday's tragedy.

Tom, aged 53, said: "Dave had moved to London just over a month ago to try and get a job because quite a few of his friends were living down there. He had got himself a flat and a good job at Lloyds TSB.

"He was a massive Stoke City fan and he had a ticket to go to the game at Fulham on Saturday. From what the police have told us, it sounds like a freak accident. We're devastated."

Former Alsager School pupil Dave had recently spent a gap year travelling around the world after graduating from the University of Manchester. Before moving to London, he worked at Royal Bank of Scotland's operations centre in The Brampton, Newcastle.

His mother Denise, aged 50, said: "When he left for London we wrote in his card 'follow your dreams' because that is what he was doing.

"He was such a lovely boy who had so many friends. A lot of them have come and told us how sad they are and how great Dave was.

"He had been with his girlfriend Kim, who is a lovely girl, for about a year."

After Dave's death on Friday, friends set up a group on social networking website Facebook in his memory. Almost 100 people have joined the group.

Girlfriend Kimberley Homer wrote on the website: "I miss you so much."

Speaking on behalf of Dave's close friends, Oliver Moxham, who lives in Alsager, said: "Dave was a best friend whose unique sense of humour and character can't be defined and can't be replaced. Every day of his life was a good day."