Four killed in separate New Year's Day car crashes

Four men were killed in two separate car crashes just hours into the new year.

In the first, a blue Peugeot carrying three young men and a woman ended up on its roof.

The single-vehicle crash happened on the A2 in Lynsted, near Sittingbourne, Kent, close to the Dover Castle pub, at around 1.20am on New Year's Day.

Two male rear-seat passengers died, while a third man and a woman were airlifted to a London hospital in a serious condition, Kent Police said.

A police spokesman said: "The male driver and female front-seat passenger sustained serious injuries and were taken to a London hospital for treatment. The rear-seat passengers, two men in their 20s, died in the incident."

Fire crews stabilised the car and used hydraulic rescue equipment to create space for paramedics to access the injured, Kent Fire and Rescue Service said.

Elsewhere, two men died in Newcastle upon Tyne when a car crashed into a tree in Grandstand Road at 4.10am.

Two other men were taken to hospital with serious injuries not believed to be life- threatening.

Meanwhile, a 59-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a Mercedes van as he walked with a woman in Heath Lane in Dartford, Kent, at around 7.50pm on New Year's Eve.