AN Evesham student has won the praises of an elderly couple after he came to their aid when their car broke down on the side of the road.

Trainee mechanic Lathanual Aspey, aged 16, wasted no time in putting his training to good use by helping Yolande Cottam and her disabled husband David who were left in a state of shock when their vehicle came to a halt following an “almighty bang”.

Yolande, who is in her 60s, said: “The car had been giving us problems and we were just coming back to Evesham from the garage in Worcester when there was an almighty bang.

"We stopped and two students who were walking along the road came over to help us.

"One of them was training to be a mechanic at South Worcestershire College and he was very helpful. He told us the fan belt was in shreds.

“Lathanual came across as a very upstanding and dedicated young man. My husband is disabled and he was a great help. We still had to call out the RAC but his actions reassured us.”

Lathanual, who is in his third year at South Worcestershire College’s Evesham campus, said he didn’t think twice about stopping to help.

He said: “I’m training to be a mechanic and I thought I might be able to see if they were alright, as the car made a big noise. I thought they might be a bit shaken up.

"I could see what went wrong – the fan belt had snapped – but it was not something I could fix at the scene. I would hope that other people my age would have done the same thing.”