British mother Jess Wilkes, 27, dies after being flung overboard into River Rhone in horror boat crash in France

Tributes have been paid to a British mother killed in a boating accident in southern France.

The victim, Jess Wilkes, 27, was flung from the craft as it travelled on the Rhone near the city of Avignon on Saturday night.

Four other people were injured, including two seriously, when the boat the group were in struck a warning beacon, a French official told the Associated Press.

Ms Wilkes, from Lamberhurst, Kent, is said to have spent the evening with friends at a restaurant on Barthelasse, an island on the river, and the boat was travelling back to Avignon.

Local officials have launched an investigation into the tragic incident as Ms Wilkes's family and friends paid tribute to her.

Maximilian Meyer, Jess Wilkes former partner and father of her child today paid tribute to her. He said: "Jessie was extremely loved by everyone, she was exceptionally talented , beautiful and kind-hearted with a charisma that would light up a room with her presence.

"She has left behind memories that will never be forgotten, kindness that will always be remembered and our daughter who will live and breath her mother's qualities.

"The pain is unbearable and she will be missed foverever, good bye you beautiful soul I will always love you."

Ms Wilkes's brother, Philip Wilkes, 25, told The Sun his sister was "larger than life and loved by her family".

Meanwhile her father, Bernard Wilkes, 72, said they "want answers" over the death of his "beautiful young girl who lived life to the full".

He told the newspaper Ms Wilkes, who celebrated turning 27 earlier in October, had a seven-year-old daughter.

Meanwhile a friend wrote on Facebook that "no word can describe this awful pain in my heart" over Ms Wilkes's death.

They added: "I just wish I could be a better friend. Goodbye my twin, see you one day. Keep shining with your immense light in the sky."

A group of eight people aged between 20 and 30 - four French and four British - were on board the boat with a pilot, aged around 50, when it struck the beacon at 10:45pm on Saturday.

An officer with the rescue services said: ‘There was a metal marker post in the middle of the river to alert boats to watch out for a nearby bridge. The shuttle boat hit this and the woman was catapulted into the water.'