Three friends die in car crash

It is thought the driver of the Clio lost control

Three teenage friends have died in a head-on car crash on the outskirts of Nottingham.

Dean Hardy and Gary Fountain, both 15, and Barry Maxwell, 17, all from Arnold, near Nottingham died when their Renault Clio collided with an oncoming car on Tuesday night.

Three female passengers and a woman driver of the other car were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Nottinghamshire Police said the boys' car veered out of control at 2245 GMT.

'Just horrible'

Inspector Paul Selby, said the three boys had been travelling intoNottingham from Gedling.

He said: "It is not yet known what exactly caused this accident or what speed the Clio was travelling at.

"We have also not yet confirmed that the 17-year-old boy who owned the car was driving it."

Four women survived the crash

It is thought the driver of the Clio may have lost control on the 60mph Colwick loop road and careered into the opposite carriageway.

Eyewitness Lance Marriott, 14, said: "First I heard crashing, skidding and stuff and I ran out and I saw people all over the place screaming, shouting.

"It was just horrible."

Race warning

The 21-year-old female driver of the other car, her mother and two other women had been travelling home to Newark after watching a pantomime in Nottingham.

All four were taken to Queen's Medical Centre.

Police said three of them had serious injuries, but none were thought to be life-threatening.

Police this week warned young drivers about using the ring road in Nottingham to race each other.

Other accidents

But Inspector Selby said: "There is no suggestion it is used as a racetrack like other areas of the city.

"The road had been gritted, but was damp though not icy."

It is the latest in a series of accidents on the busy road.

A short distance away, there are still flowers where Emily Cooper, 34, who lived nearby, was killed by a hit-and-run driver on 23 November.