Teenage girls and driver die as car hits tree

HEARTBROKEN family and friends yesterday paid tribute to two teenage girls and a young man who were killed when their car hit a tree.

Police confirmed two of the victims were Lucy Tibbetts, 16, and driver Joshua Parkes, 21. The other girl who died was also 16.

Two other passengers, a girl of 16 and a boy of 18, remain in hospital after the incident at Kingswinford, near Dudley, West Midlands, on Tuesday night.

One witness said: “I heard a massive bang. I looked out the window and saw the car wrapped around the tree.”

One note among messages left at the scene read: “Lucy, I can’t even believe I’m writing this.

I am truly heartbroken.”

Another tribute said: “Words can’t express how heartbroken I am right now.”

A wind chime “in loving memory of a dear brother” and a bunch of flowers dedicated to “a special sister” were among other tributes.

“Rest easy my beautiful friend,” another note read.

It is understood that police had spotted the car – a yellow Skoda Fabia – moments before the tragedy. A spokesman said: “There was a police car in the vicinity of the collision, but at this stage it is not known best

if there was any interaction with the Skoda. This will form part of our investigation.”

PC Chris Ridge, from the West Midlands Police collision investigation unit, said: “This is a devastating time for the families of those involved, and we have specially trained officers who are supporting them. We’re still working through a number of lines of investigation.

“Anyone who saw the Skoda driving in the area last night, or who may have captured anything on dash- cam footage, is urged to get in touch with us as soon as possible.”