Five people including two teenage girls were rescued by emergency fire and ambulance crews when they were trapped in a car smash in east London today on the main A13 main road at Poplar.

The 22-year-old driver and three passengers had to be cut free from the smashed Audi which was in collision with a tanker lorry in East India Dock Road, near the Canning Town flyover, at 3.45am. A fourth passenger, a woman, was helped out of the vehicle by rescuers.

A fleet of five ambulances, three response cars and two fire-crews were called to the accident. Paramedics treated all five at the scene of scene.

One man aged 22 with serious head injuries was rushed to Kings College Hospital.

The others were taken by ambulance to the Royal London at Whitechapel, all treated as priority.

One of the teenagers, aged 18, had multiple injuries. The other, also 18, had face injuries. The fourth passenger, a woman, suffered multiple injuries.

The eastbound carriageway was cordoned off following the crash at the traffic light junction with Abbots Road. The rescue operation took 90 minutes before eastbound traffic resumed. Police are looking into the cause of the crash.