TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to three young people who died when a car plunged 40ft from a bridge into a river.

A huge rescue operation began at 11.15pm on Saturday after the car crashed through the barriers of Wylam Bridge, Wylam, Northumberland.

A team of 25 firefighters battled for an hour to free the trapped occupants of the Renault Clio.

All three were taken to hospital where they were confirmed dead. They have been named as Liz Carroll, 22, Richard Hornsby, 25, from Wylam, and James Robson, 28, from Gateshead.

The rescue crews, who worked under electric lights, crawled 5m on a ladder stretched across the river to cut them out of the car.

Northumberland Fire Brigade divisional officer Rob Clow said: "All three emergency services worked together in very arduous conditions."

A Northumbria Police spokes-man said: "We are trying to establish the cause of the accident."

Police said last night that the car that plunged into the River Tyne was being driven by Ms Carroll.

The friends were heading to their home village of Wylam when the car crashed through iron railings and landed on its roof on a weir.

Ms Carroll lived with her mother Elanear James, 43, and stepfather Ed James, 57. She had a brother, Matthew, 18; a stepsister, Ashley, 30, who is a police officer; a stepsister, Lindsay, 28, who works for Barclay's Bank; and a stepbrother, Ryan, who is studying in Japan.

Mrs James, an NHS psychotherapist, said: "We were a very close mother and daughter, we talked about everything.

"I can't say how much we will all miss Liz. She was a very confident, tall, opinionated young lady who knew her own mind, exactly the kind of person I brought her up to be.

"We were very upset to hear about the others who died. We knew Richie and he was a lovely boy, they had been friends a long time."

Ms Carroll was a sales executive with Fastway, a courier firm that has Mr and Mrs James as its North-East franchise holders.

She planned to begin studying at Sheffield University to become a psychiatric nurse.

Her friend and colleague, Nick Turner, 39, said: "Liz was a lovely, bubbly girl and great fun. She was one of those people whose company you really valued.

"Her family are distraught. They are nice people."

Lesley Duggan, 54, landlady of the Ship Inn, knew all three youngsters, and Richard Hornsby had worked there as a barman on and off for the past five years.

She said: "Richie was like a son to me. He was one of the nicest lads I have ever met. All three were smashing kids.

"The whole village is devastated. It is a small place, and a tragedy like this affects everybody."