A village is mourning a popular resident and campaigning parish councillor who died in a car crash.

Annie West, chair of Balsham parish council near Cambridge, said the village was “devastated” by the death of Dr Muhammad Shaheer.

Dr Shaheer, 30, was driving a car on December 22 when it left the road and came to rest in a ditch in Cambridge Road.

Emergency services attended but Dr Shaheer, of The Hawthorns, Balsham, died at the scene.

Mrs West said: “We were all devastated by the news – he was a such a lovely young and vibrant man.”

Dr Shaheer won election to the council three years ago and Mrs West said he had contributed enormously to the village.

“He was very safety conscious and his project was slowing down traffic in the village,” she said.

Mrs West said the council would continue with his campaigning.

She described his death as a “freak accident”.

“His other big project was speeding up broadband in the village,” she said. “He used to talk to me about what was involved and although I can’t say I understood it all, I was delighted to agree.”

Cllr West is in touch with Dr Shaheer’s family and with a colleague visited his widow on Christmas Day “to offer support”.

In a moving tribute his family said: “Despite reaching only the third decade of his life, Muhammad had an impact of an entire lifetime upon everyone he knew, be it his colleagues, friends, or family.

“We will all miss him dearly.”

Dr Shaheer had most recently been working as a mechanical engineer with Bespak of King’s Lynn and Cambridge.

He held a doctorate in mechanical engineering and had graduated with a BEng (1st Class Honours).

Dr Shaheer was also programme secretary of the Eastern Counties branch of The Welding Institute, the leading engineering institution.