Three people have been killed and four others injured in a head-on road smash.

It happened on the A6038 Hollins Hill road, near Baildon, at 11pm when a Vauxhall Astra carrying four teenagers was involved in a collision with a Honda Civic carrying three pensioners travelling in the opposite direction.

The Civic driver, Dorothy Jones, 71, of Springs Lane, Ilkley, and the rear seat passenger, Muriel Metcalfe, 77, of Bradford Road, Menston, died from multiple injuries when the cars collided as the Astra travelled downhill towards Shipley.

The driver of the Astra, a 19-year-old man from Thornton, was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary after being cut free from the badly-mangled wreckage of his car but died early today.

His three passengers, from the Baildon area, were taken to BRI where one was later discharged. The other two were still receiving treatment this afternoon.

The husband of the driver of the Civic was today in a stable condition in BRI.

Inspector Richard Czornowol, of Keighley police, said investigations were centering on whether the Astra had swerved into the path of the oncoming Civic. "It would seem, according to a passenger in the Astra, that it may have braked and swerved into the path of the Honda," he said.

Witnesses Harry and Sybil Whiteley were just going to bed when they heard the horrific crash outside their house.

Mr Whiteley, who is retired, said: "We heard this horrendous smash and thought a car had come over the wall into our garden. We looked out of the window and saw the terrible smash, the two cars were completely concertinaed."

They rang the emergency services and Mr Whiteley went outside to view the scene. He said it was the worst accident he had seen in the 32 years that he had lived at the house.

"We are used to accidents happening on this spot but this was the worst thing," he said. "There were half a dozen people at the scene who were calling for an ambulance on their mobiles but you could tell that there were very severe injuries and that there would be fatalities."

Mrs Whiteley said: "The noise was tremendous. We haven't seen anything like it."

Neighbour Judith Beaumont said: "We heard the crash. It didn't register what had happened at first. It was very loud and then we saw that it was two cars that had crashed."

Sub Officer Chris Clarke, of Rawdon Fire Station, who attended the incident said it was one of the worst accidents he had seen.

He said: "When we got there it was total carnage. The Vauxhall Astra was at 90 degrees across the road and the Honda was on a bit of wasteland and had come to rest against a lamp post.

"It was a horrendous scene. There was debris and engine parts strewn across the road. It was one of the worst accidents involving two cars I've seen.

"What made it worse was that there was fuel leaking from the Astra so we were trying to work in a pool of petrol which was obviously dangerous.

"It looked like the cars had collided head on at the drivers' sides because the engine compartments had completely crushed the driver's space right up to the seats.

"The driver of the Honda was severely trapped in the vehicle but she was already dead.

"The young driver of the Astra was severely trapped by his legs and the paramedics were very concerned that we got him out as quickly as possible. We had to take the whole side of the car and the roof off to get him out, which took about 25 minutes.

"It was a really sad scene. The elderly people looked like they had just been out dancing and were all dressed up."

Hollins Hill was closed for more than five hours while police investigators examined the scene.

Witnesses to the accident are asked to contact Keighley road traffic department on (01535) 617049.