Two teenagers are recovering in hospital today after the car they were in smashed into a bus, killing three other youths, police said.

Residents of Little Heath in Charlton, south east London, woke to the sound of a huge bang and walked out to find a scene of horror early yesterday morning.

One described hearing the screams of a teenage girl trapped in the wreckage of the red Peugeot 106 after the head on crash just after 6am.

Two girls aged 16 and 15 and the 18-year-old male driver were pronounced dead at the scene.

Reports overnight named the dead girls as Georgina Fox and Amy Curren, and the driver as Joe Wallis.

A 17-year-old female was understood to have multiple fractures, which were not life threatening, and a 17-year-old male who was also in the car had minor injuries.

The 453, a bendy' bus, was out of service and not carrying any passengers.