A MAN has been charged in connection with a crash which claimed the lives of five people - including two teenage sisters - in north Suffolk.Ben Morphey , 22, of High Street, Yoxford, is due to appear before magistrates in Lowestoft on Friday after being charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving yesterday .

A MAN has been charged in connection with a crash which claimed the lives of five people - including two teenage sisters - in north Suffolk.

Ben Morphey , 22, of High Street, Yoxford, is due to appear before magistrates in Lowestoft on Friday after being charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving yesterday .

It follows an horrific crash involving a Renault Laguna, containing two men and a woman, and a Vauxhall Astra - carrying five teenagers - on the A12 at Blythburgh, near Southwold, in July.

Three Lowestoft girls in the Astra - 18-year-old Claire Stoddart and her 15-year-old sister Jennifer Stoddart, along with their close friend 18-year-old Carla Took - died in the crash.

Simon Bonner, 40, from Yoxford, who was a passenger in the Laguna, also died. The woman travelling in the car, 41-year-old Kim Abbott, who was also from Yoxford, lost her fight for life weeks later in hospital.

A Suffolk police spokeswoman said yesterday: “A 22-year-old man has been charged after five people died following a road traffic collision on the A12 at Blythburgh in July.”

She added: “Ben Morphey, of High Street, Yoxford, has been charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving and is due to appear at Lowestoft Magistrates' Court on Friday, 13 October.”

The crash happened at around 12.50am on Saturday July 1 when the girls were on their way back from watching the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform in Ipswich.

The promising students were celebrating the end of term at Benjamin Britten High School, in Lowestoft, with the two 18-year-olds also marking the end of their A-level exams.

Their results were released posthumously in August, showing they were the two highest achieving girls in their sixth form.

Two of their school friends survived the crash. Sarah Mitchell suffered serious injuries while Adam Cox escaped with a broken thumb and seatbelt injuries.

The tragedy inspired the Red Hot Chili Peppers' support act, Dirty Pretty Things, to play a special concert last month to pay tribute to the girls.