A FATHER and his two teenage sons were killed in an horrific crash that left three others - including an eight-year-old girl - fighting for their lives.

James Mortlock

A FATHER and his two teenage sons were killed in an horrific crash that left three others - including an eight-year-old girl - fighting for their lives.

David Bocking, 43, of Halstead, and his sons Daniel, 14, and Stephen, 13, both of Potton, Bedfordshire, died in the two-car collision at Linton, near Haverhill, on the A1307 on Saturday.

They were travelling in a red Peugeot estate car that collided with a silver Volkswagen Golf at the end of a stretch of dual carriageway at about 3.30pm.

Cambridgeshire police said five other people were being treated in Addenbrooke's Hospital last night.

A 39-year-old woman, an eight-year-old girl and a 60-year-old man were all in a critical condition while a 50-year-old woman was in a serious condition and a 13-year-old girl was serious but stable.

Meanwhile, a six-year-old boy was last night also fighting for life after a collision with a Mini Cooper car at 9.30pm on Saturday at Worlingham, near Beccles.

Cambridgeshire police have launched an investigation into the A1307 crash, which closed the road for seven hours.

Sgt Tim Stonebridge, a collision investigator with Cambridgeshire Police, said the three victims who died were all travelling in the same car.

He said: “There's nothing obvious at the moment to suggest why this has happened. One of the vehicles looks as if it has come off the dual carriageway - whether that is a factor we don't know. We believe it may have been a head-on collision.”

The accident came on a stretch of road which has been branded one of the worst in the country.

Richard Spring, MP for West Suffolk, said although the road was not in his constituency, many of his constituents had been among the scores of people to have lost their lives on the A1307 over the past few years. “This is turning into a monstrous death trap - it's turning into one of the most dangerous roads in England,” he said.

Mr Spring called on Cambridgeshire County Council to improve safety along the stretch, which is dotted with stretches of single and dual carriageway: “It's extremely dangerous and the signage and enforcement (of speed limits) is poor. I drive that stretch often and the signs are feeble.”

However, John Batchelor, Cambridgeshire county councillor for the area, said the authority was working hard to improve safety and he said there were no easy answers. “To have three dead and five more seriously injured as an appalling tragedy. But this is the first serious accident we have had at this particular spot,” he said.

The boy injured in the crash with a Mini Cooper at Worlingham remained in a critical condition last night.

The youngster, who is from the village, suffered major head and chest injuries and his right arm was fractured in the crash, which happened in Rowan Way at 9.30pm.

Police closed off the area around Rowan Way until 2am yesterday while they carried out their investigations.

The driver of the Mini Cooper, who is also from Worlingham, was uninjured.