Servicewomen killed in crash

THREE British servicewomen killed in a crash on a French motorway were last night named by the Ministry of Defence. Privates Tanya Braithwaite, 18, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, Louise Jones, 21, from Bicester, Oxfordshire and Emma Leverton, 19, from Poole in Dorset died when a lorry ploughed into the back of their minibus.

Four other colleagues were injured, one seriously, in the crash on the A16 at Oye-Plage, near Calais. They were taken to hospital in the French port. All were members of an armed forces basketball team travelling from their base in Germany to Britain for a competition.

A Dutch lorry driver is being questioned by French police about the crash early yesterday.