A Scottish student has died on an exchange trip to America after being run over by a bus while she was jogging.

Lisa Moran, 20, from Paisley, was running at the Chapel Hill campus in North Carolina when the accident happened.

Yesterday her family described her as a "beautiful"

girl who had been having the time of her life in the United States.

Staff at the University of North Carolina (UNC) have expressed their condolences, and the high-flying student's social networking page, Bebo, has been flooded with tributes.

Miss Moran was on the six-month exchange as part of her third-year studies for a law and business degree at Glasgow University.

She had been due to return home in a few weeks.

Miss Moran was running on campus at a junction on May 15 when the accident happened.

Her parents, Fraser and Carolyn, travelled to America to bring their daughter's body home.

Speaking yesterday at the family home in Paisley, Mr Moran said: "Lisa was beautiful, she was fiercely intelligent, fun-loving and was having a great time in America.

"She made a lot of new friends out there, she was having a fantastic time and she was as happy as she had ever been in her life.

"Lisa was enjoying every minute of her time in America. She was loved by all who knew her and it is a terrible, terrible loss to all of us. She was at the peak of her powers."

Mr Moran, who has two other children, Kevin, 17, and Natalie, nine, added: "It was just a very, very unfortunate accident that nine times out of 10 would not have happened.

"Lisa was out jogging, she came to a crossroads and did not see the bus coming."

Mr Moran said his daughter, a former pupil at St Andrews Academy in Paisley, had intended to complete her degree on her return to Scotland.

The student, who received six A-grades in her Higher exams and was dux at her school, had then hoped to pursue a career in law, possibly back in North Carolina.

She was also keen on sport, having been a ski instructor, and enjoyed squash, her father said.

Miss Moran's funeral will be held in Paisley on Friday. Her father added that the family had received a "very kind" welcome from staff at UNC and the friends Lisa had made in America.

He added that some concerns had been expressed locally about pedestrian safety around the crossroads where the accident happened.

In a message to students on the UNC website, dean of the School of Law, Jack Boger, said everyone had been "deeply saddened" by Lisa's death.

"Our sincerest condolences go out to all of her friends and family, both here and in her native Scotland," he added.

On her Bebo site, Lisa had written: "Currently living it up in the sunny city of Chapel Hill, North Carolina."

One message on her social networking site read: "You were one of the most focused and determined girls I have ever met. Life is so cruel to take you so soon."

A North Carolina police spokesman said that the bus driver is not being charged over the tragedy.

He said that Lisa was wearing an iPod while jogging, and added that she did not stop for the traffic, lost her footing and slid under the bus. She died after being taken to hospital.

Police say there was no designated crossing at the scene of the accident.