SCHOOLGIRLS paid tribute to a fellow pupil who was killed in a car crash at the weekend after they won a top business competition.

Oxford High School pupils spoke of their sadness over the death of Olivia Jefferies as they won the South East final of the Young Enterprise awards, with a board game that will now go on UK sale.

Miss Jefferies was in a team from the school, called Oxygen, which won the contest last year and went on to the national finals. They were nominated for producing a guidebook to Oxford.

The 18-year-old, from Twyford, near Banbury, died when her Peugeot 107 collided with a Ford Focus on the B4100 in Adderbury on Sunday.

Georgia Gorham, the joint managing director of the Cosmic Enterprises team, said: “The day was very difficult in many ways, because Olivia was only a year above us and very well known.”

The 17-year-old said of Tuesday’s win: “When the judges asked teams who their inspiration was, characters such as Alan Sugar were mentioned.

“But we said our inspiration was the team that had gone before us, and Olivia was part of that.”

The team developed a board game called Emission Impossible, which had strong environmental themes.

But they proved their business skills after convincing Surrey-based manufacturer Gibsons Games to develop and sell the Monopoly-style game.

Georgia added: “We’re attending a special event next month to launch the game and it will be on sale from the autumn.

“We have been writing 500 question cards for the game, as well as preparing for the competition and studying for our AS-Levels.”

Gibsons has bought the game from Cosmic for an undisclosed sum, with the team getting a share of the royalties.

The national finals of Young Enterprise take place in London on July 11-13. The UK winners go on to compete against schools from other European countries.

Oxfordshire Young Enterprise senior development manager Sarah Middleton said: “The girls excelled in all areas. We have high hopes for them in the national finals.”