Three teenagers killed in crash

The cadets were returning from an orienteering trip

Three teenage boys have been killed and seven people seriously injured in an accident on the A1 in Cambridgeshire.

A coach, carrying four adults and 36 air cadets aged 13 to 18, collided with two lorries near Peterborough just before 2130BST on Monday.

The Spanish driver of one of the lorries has been arrested on suspicion of driving without due care and attention.

The accident happened near Peterborough

Cambridgeshire police named the three cadets who died as Wayne Maynard, 18, from Barnet; Christopher Colmer, 15, from Pinner; and Jason Adnitt, 15 from Edmonton, North London.

Another cadet, James Topping, 15, from Barnet, is critically ill in Addenbrooke's Hospital.

The cadet group had been spending a week at the nearby RAF Wittering base and were returning from an orienteering trip in Northamptonshire when the accident happened.

Two people were declared dead at the scene and a third died later in Peterborough District Hospital.

Seven seriously injured victims were also taken to the hospital.

Appeal for witnesses

The remaining passengers, who suffered slight injuries, were taken to RAF Wittering where a reception centre has been set up.

A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said: "An English lorry, a foreign lorry and the RAF coach were involved in the accident.

The 32-year-old Spanish man, who was driving a 38-ton articulated lorry, was being questioned at Thorpe Wood police station.

The crash involved the coach, an English lorry and a foreign lorry

The northbound section of the A1 was closed while accident investigators examined the scene.

Officers investigating the accident have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

They said the coach, which had a female RAF driver, was fitted with seatbelts and those who died were sitting at the back.

Superintendent Alex Marshall, head of Cambridgeshire Police's operational support services, and Wing Commander David Ogg, from RAF Wittering, both expressed their "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims.