The small Luggate community is mourning the loss of a teenager who died in a car crash near Wanaka yesterday.

Police confirmed at midday the person killed in the crash was 17-year-old Jackson James Aitchison.

He was from Luggate, a small township between Wanaka and Cromwell.

Police say Aitchison was the only person in the car when it crashed into a tree on Ballantyne Road just before 6pm yesterday.

He died from his injuries.

Police are still investigating the circumstances of the crash.

Ballantyne Road connects to the state highway near Wanaka.

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