Police appeal after four die in car crash

A Volkswagen Passat and a Vauxhall Astra collided on the A39 at Cannington, near Bridgwater, Somerset, at around 2.30pm on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Somerset Police said a 68-year-old man travelling in the Passat died, while a 73-year-old woman, a 59-year-old woman and a 76-year-old man travelling in the Astra were also killed.

Police are appealing for witnesses to contact the collision investigation unit on 101.

The accident follows another fatal crash in which three men were killed when their car careered into trees before rolling down an embankment near Oxford.

The men, aged 57, 39 and 31, were in a blue Mercedes E Class estate when the crash happened on the A4074 at Sandford-on-Thames at about 9.50pm on Monday. Two other passengers, both women, aged 37 and 29, were injured and taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Two of the men who died, the 57-year-old and the 39-year-old, were believed to be US citizens.

No other vehicles were involved.