AN 18-YEAR-OLD girl has died following a car crash which left three other teenagers injured.

The teenager was the front seat passenger in a Ford Fiesta which collided with a tree on Fellside Road, in Gateshead, at 6.40pm on Tuesday.

An 18-year-old boy was driving the car north between the Woodman's Arms and Whickham Golf Club when - for reasons as yet unknown - it left the road, smashed through a fence and hit a tree.

Fire crews cut the driver free and he was taken to Gateshead's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he has undergone surgery for a broken leg. His condition was last night described as comfortable.

Two boys in the back of the car, aged 18 and 19, were able to free themselves from the wreckage and suffered only minor injuries.

The 18-year-old girl was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital suffering head injuries, but was pronounced dead shortly after she arrived.

The names of the occupants of the car have not been released, but police confirmed they were all from the Dunston area are Gateshead.

The crash happened a few hundred yards from the entrance to Whickham Golf Club, between Gateshead and Burnopfield, in County Durham.

Sgt Nigel Dance, of Whickham Motor Patrols, said: "We are still trying to assess if any other vehicles were involved.

"We know that a single vehicle has left the road, but what caused that to do so we cannot say, because we do not know.

"If there was any other vehicle involved, hopefully we will be able to trace it, but at this time there is no suggestion that there was."

Anyone with information should contact 0191-221 9540.