15080/4'DEATH VALLEY' FEATURE: A HEAD-ON collision on the Warminster bypass has killed one driver and left two more people fighting for their lives in hospital.

The crash on the A36, between Cley Hill and the Granada Service Station, happened at 8.36pm on Thursday evening.

The driver of a light blue Peugeot 206, 26-year-old Robert Griffin from Frome, suffered fatal injuries and was found dead at the scene.

But miraculously a 16-year-old girl pulled from the passenger seat suffered only minor injuries.

A 14-year-old girl in the back seat of the Peugeot was airlifted to Salisbury Hospital and is now in a critical condition at Southampton Euro Hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the green Ford Mondeo, believed to be from Southampton and travelling towards Cley Hill, is now in hospital at Salisbury and is considered to be 'very poorly'.

The names of the two girls and the Mondeo driver have not been released to the public.

Sgt Craig Hardy of Westbury traffic police said: "Unfortunately there are no witnesses to the accident so far and we are carrying out an investigation into the crash.

"It was a head on collision on a very straight road so we will be interviewing survivors from the crash and carrying out tests on the car and the road to find out the cause.

"How many more people need to die before we stop these collisions?

"At this time we must think of the families who are being split up all because of crashes on this one stretch of road."

The crash on the A36 Warminster bypass is the 11th death crash in west Wiltshire this year.

Since Thursday's crash friends and relatives of Mr Griffin, who was of Vallis Road, Frome, have laid 14 flowers at the site of the accident.

One card read 'Gibbon, I'll never forget you, love you Sheena' and a second card read 'Dear Robert, in our thoughts forever, with love Aunty Myra, Alan, James, Nana, Ben, Ria, Troy, Aron and Jack'.

His family released a statement in tribute to the civil engineer, whose funeral will be held at St Andrews Church, Mells, on May 4.

They said: "Robert was a resident of Mells from his birth till the age of 21 and was an active member of Mells scouts helping to win gold awards at jamboree near Minehead and also an active member of Frome ATC.

"He enjoyed trying his hand at many sports including basketball, fishing, football, cricket, golf and pool.

"He even won Frome singles pool tournament.

"He was a keen fan of Liverpool football club and enjoyed trips to Anfield and FA Cup finals.

"In later years after moving to Frome he always returned to Mells to see friends to help them with projects or just socialising.

"Robert's main loves were friends' company, music and videos, of which he had quite a collection and he will be sadly missed by all his friends and family."

Police are still appealing for any witnesses to the crash to come forward as investigations continue.

The funeral of 26-year-old Melksham woman Michelle Phillips, killed in a car accident in Devon on Good Friday, is to be held at 11am on May 10 at St Michael's Church in Melksham.