THE parents of a teenager who was killed in a road crash on Christmas Eve have described her as "a joy to all who knew her".Kirsten Muller, 18, died after an accident on the A12 between Marks Tey and Stanway.

By Juliette Maxam

THE parents of a teenager who was killed in a road crash on Christmas Eve have described her as "a joy to all who knew her".

Kirsten Muller, 18, died after an accident on the A12 between Marks Tey and Stanway.

The teenager lived with her parents, Tanja and Robert Harris , in Onslow Crescent, on the Birch Glen estate, Colchester.

They issued an emotional tribute to her yesterday – on a weekend when two other people were also tragically killed on the region's roads and a number of others seriously injured.

Kirsten was in her third year at Colchester Institute, where she was a beauty therapy student. Previously she was a secondary school pupil at Manningtree High School.

Mrs Harris said her daughter, who was their only child, was always happy to help others.

Even after her death she continued to help other people, as she donated tissue and other body parts to help others have a better quality of life.

Mrs and Mrs Harris said: "Kirsten was a joy to all who knew her."

Miss Muller was travelling alone in a blue Ford Escort when the car left the three-lane dual carriageway and crashed into trees at 7am on Wednesday.

The tragic accident happened on the Ipswich-bound carriageway of the road, just before the Stanway turn-off. Miss Muller was declared dead at the scene.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash to contact Pc John Simpson, at Stanway Road Policing Unit, on 01206 762512.

Meanwhile, a man and a woman were killed and two children seriously injured last night on the A12 at Darsham in Suffolk.

Emergency services were called to the crash, involving a car and a lorry, at about 5.15pm at the road's junction with the A144.

A spokesman for the fire service said two people had been severely trapped in their car and they had been called to the scene to cut them free.

Firefighter Stuart Hood, assistant divisional officer who was in charge of the fire service involvement, confirmed that two people had died at the scene despite the best efforts of paramedics and firefighters.

Mr Hood said: "When I arrived the crews were still trying to release the casualties with the help of the paramedics. Two people were heavily trapped and unfortunately they died before we got them out.''

They had not been named last night as investigations into what caused the accident continued. It was not clear exactly how serious the children's injuries were.

In Essex, a road accident victim was airlifted to hospital after a head-on collision on a country road.

Three people were hurt in the crash, which happened on Maldon Road between Birch and Tiptree at 3.30pm yesterday . Police last night believed one of the casualties had life-threatening injuries.

The crash involved two cars travelling in opposite directions. Two of the casualties were taken to Colchester General Hospital by road ambulance.

A man was also in hospital after he was in a collision with a car as he walked along an A12 slip road – in which he went through the windscreen and ended up in the passenger seat beside the driver.

The pedestrian, from Braintree, was walking along the slip road leading onto the London-bound track of the A12 at Marks Tey when the accident happened at 11.40pm on Saturday.

He was in collision with a Vauxhall Carlton driven by a man from Marks Tey.

Three fire crews from Coggeshall and Colchester cut the roof off the car to rescue the injured man. He was taken to Colchester General Hospital with leg injuries, which are not believed to be life threatening.

And a teenager from Harwich was seriously injured when two cars collided at the junction of Gandish Road and White Horse Road in East Bergholt during the early hours of Saturday.

The 17-year-old driver needed emergency surgery at Ipswich Hospital after suffering internal injuries and at least one broken limb.

His condition was last night described as poorly, but stable at Ipswich Hospital.

The cars involved were a blue Ford Fiesta, which was driven by the 17-year-old, and a blue Renault Clio. Two other people suffered minor injuries and one is thought to have escaped uninjured.

An investigation into how the crash happened has been launched by police and officers are appealing for anyone who witnessed it to contact them on 01473 613500.