Two men who died in a car crash in Braintree last night have been named by police.

David Bradley, aged 30, of Beckers Green Road in Braintree, was driving a blue Ford Fiesta which was in a head-on collision with a blue Volkswagen Polo.

He was declared dead at the scene along with 18-year-old James Simmons of Hillside Gardens, Braintree, who was a rear seat passenger in the Polo.

The incident happened in Gosfield Road just before 5pm last night.

The driver of the polo, a man in his 20s from Gosfield, was air lifted to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge where he remains in a critical condition.

The front seat passenger from the Fiesta, a woman in her 20s from Suffolk, was taken by land ambulance to Broomfield Hospital with serious injuries.

The front seat passenger from the Polo, a 16-year-old girl from Braintree, was also taken to Broomfield Hospital by land ambulance with serious injuries.

The road was closed while initial investigations were carried out at the scene and the vehicles were recovered. It reopened at around 10pm.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact them, as well as anyone who saw the pre-incident driving of the cars, to contact officers at the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 101 or email collisionappeal@essex.pnn.police.uk.