A GRIEVING boyfriend has paid tribute to his "kind and loving" girlfriend after she was killed in a crash on the M5 near Bromsgrove.

Sorina Gheorghe, who was 24 and lived in Worcester, died on Wednesday morning when her Peugeot collided with a Land Rover on the northbound carriageway near junction 5 (Droitwich). An off-duty paramedic and passers-by fought to save her but she died at the scene.

Her boyfriend, Cristian Miculaiciuc, who is from Romania like Sorina, described her as "beautiful inside and out".

The 23-year-old, who lives in Worcester, said: "We are all devastated by this tragic event and we cannot believe this could ever happen to her. She was such an innocent, kind and loving human being. She would always do things for us without expecting anything in return.

"Her passion was baking and decorating handcrafted elegant desserts and gifts.

"She was beautiful inside-out, and always used to put passion into everything she was doing.

"We would like to thank everyone for all the support we had, especially to the assigned officer who looked after us, who was very professional, kind and supportive.

"She will never be forgotten and we want everyone to remember her as the cheerful, happy and loving person she was."

Cristian and Sorina met in the UK and had been together for almost three years and two months.

Sorina lived in Newport Street, Worcester, with her mother, Iulia Anemari, and worked for a company which manufactures parts for Jaguar vehicles, in Aston, Birmingham.

Sorina also had her own handmade desserts business, Sweet Gifts (www.uksweetgifts.com), which she was passionate about.

She will be buried in Romania, with Cristian telling the Worcester News: "We have sorted for her to be taken by plane likely on Wednesday.

"I have received hundreds of messages from her friends from Romania who want to see her for one last time."

The crash took place at around 5.40am on April 3 and, as a result, the M5 northbound was closed between Junction 5 and J4A (M42) for six hours.

Police had to turn drivers around on the M5 to allow them to exit and also closed junction 6 so that the traffic could be released.

There were 10-mile tailbacks until midday with some drivers trapped for five hours and other drivers on the A449 near junction 6 unable to move for more than three hours.

Chief Superintendent Tom Harding said: "As the public would expect in such tragic cases, a thorough investigation has been launched to establish the circumstances behind the collision and our thoughts are with the families involved at this difficult time.

"Enquiries are currently ongoing and we would encourage anyone who saw the collision or has dashcam footage of the moments leading up to it to come forward.

"We would like to thank everyone, especially the local community. for their support and understanding."

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident 40S of April 3.