They were found in a critical condition and received advanced life support at the scene, a West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) spokeswoman said.

But despite the "best efforts" of those attending, the 26-year-old driver and 39-year-old passenger were confirmed dead at the scene, while the boy died shortly after arriving at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

They were travelling in the same car - a white Ford Mondeo - on the A44 in Spetchley when the collision happened on Thursday afternoon.

Two men in the other vehicle - a white BMW 3 series - were injured and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

One of them has life-threatening injuries and the other has potentially life-threatening injuries.

West Mercia Police has appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Chief Inspector Mark Davidson said: "This is an incredibly sad incident, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the people who have sadly died.

"I urge anybody who witnessed the collision or may have dash cam footage to contact the police as you may be able to help with our investigation into what happened."

Five ambulances, four paramedics, a trauma doctor and a critical care paramedic attended the scene after the service was called at 3.07pm.

Two air ambulances based at Cosford and Strensham also attended and the first of the crews arrived within seven minutes.

"Ambulance staff were grateful for the assistance of police and fire colleagues at the scene as all three emergency services worked well together in what were extremely difficult circumstances," the spokeswoman added.