Police have named three teenage students who were killed when their car hit a tree.

The accident happened on the A286 at Easebourne, near Midhurst, last night when the red Vauxhall Nova came off the road. They all died instantly.

The one survivor of the tragedy, an unnamed passenger, was taken to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester with a broken nose and bruising.

The driver who died was 18-year-old Simon Ingham of Exton Road, Chichester.

The two back seat passengers also killed were Steven McGill, 18, of Taylor's Rise, Midhurst, and Manh Hung La, 16, of Peter Weston Place, Chichester.

The accident happened at 8.45pm yesterday, 200 yards outside Easebourne village.

A 50-year-old man who saw the crash scene said: "It was a real mess. I must have been about 30 seconds behind at the time and when I came over the brow of the hill saw that the car had hit a tree.

"From the look of it they must have been travelling between 50mph and 60mph. It was ripped apart, crumpled at the foot of the tree.

"Two of the lads were still inside and one of them was lying at the edge of the bank a few feet away.

"The lad who was injured had blood all over his face, but he was walking around looking extremely shocked by the whole thing. He was eventually taken away by ambulance."

A police spokesman could not confirm reports that the driver only passed his test this week.

He said: "It is a tragedy that three young people have lost their lives in this way and there will be a detailed investigation."