A VETERAN councillor died in a four-vehicle crash when her car plunged down an embankment.

Tributes have been paid to Barbara Vaughan, 77, who served as a Tory member on Perth and Kinross and Tayside councils, and was director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

She was critically injured on Friday when the car she was in plunged down an embankment on the A9 between Killiecrankie and Blair Atholl.

Mrs Vaughan was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, by Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance following the accident, which involved a lorry and three cars, but she died later.

She had a particular interest in education and served on a number of economic and educational boards, nationally and locally, including the Manpower Services Commission, Scottish Exam Board, SCOTVEC and Dundee University Court.

Fellow Conservative, MSP Murdo Fraser, said it was with “great sadness” that he heard of her death.

“Barbara served communities in Tayside over many years in public service, firstly on Tayside Regional Council, where she was an energetic and engaged convenor of education, and more recently on Perth and Kinross Council,” he said.

“Barbara had a life-long passion for education, for which she was honoured with an OBE. She was both an efficient organiser and a cheerful companion.”