THE wife of a teacher killed in a head-on car crash today paid tribute to her husband who "lived life to the full."

Alan Squire, 54, of Waingate Road, Rawtenstall, died after a crash on the A680 Rochdale Road on Thursday when his car veered across the road into a box van.

His devastated family are still coming to terms with his death, as are pupils and staff at Matthew Moss High School, Rochdale where Alan was head of science.

Alan was married for 25 years to Alison, who is also a teacher.

They have two sons, Timothy, 20, and Jonathan, 19, who are university students.

Alison said: "He was immensely proud of his sons and supported them in all their activities.

"He was an extremely dedicated teacher and his students achieved excellent results. He was always learning and keen to adopt new methods of teaching and learning.

"He did not stand on ceremony and would throw himself into any task at school. In 33 years of teaching he never had a day off for illness.

Outside school he lived life to the full."

She said Alan's hobbies included sailing, parachuting, sky diving and sub-aqua and he held a micropilot's licence and enjoyed aerobatics.

He was a skilled motorcyclist, played the tenor horn, was renovating three houses and could turn his hand to anything practical.

Headteacher Andy Raymer said: "He was a popular teacher and a good role model to a number of kids.

"He wanted to teach something every day, not just children but adults as well. He was hugely knowledgeable and a practical and busy person.

"He was always doing something with people. I guess that's what we will miss most. He was a really enthusiastic person who wanted to be involved in everything."

The school is considering a permanent memorial to Alan.

Youngsters have paid their own tributes. On the website Rate My Teacher, Mr Squire scores five out of five overall with the comment "he is the best."

Police are still trying to establish why his car veered across the road.