A TEENAGE boy was among four friends killed when their car veered off the road and smashed into a tree.

Tributes have been paid to James Bowyer, 18, of Marsh Gibbon, near Bicester, who died at the scene when the blue Ford Fiesta he was travelling in crashed on the Oxfordshire boundary at around 12.30am yesterday.

A 17-year-old boy, named locally as Matthew Simpson, from Bicester, was last night fighting for his life at the John Radcliffe Hospital where his condition was described as critical.

Police said the teenage friends had spent the evening together in the area before the crash. They are appealing for witnesses.

Three other boys killed were last night named by police as 18-year-olds Lee Grimshaw, of Brackley in Northants, Edward Manders-Naden, of Calvert Green, Bucks, and Kirk Nokes, of Buckingham.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Yesterday, friends and family left flowers at the scene on the A422 Brackley Road near Westbury, in Bucks, near the Reindeer Inn.

Andrew Hillier, 22, of Marsh Gibbon, was one of many who paid tribute to Mr Bowyer.

He said: "He was just a very nice person, very innocent and a quality lad. We used to play football together on the Astroturf pitches near where we lived and we had great fun.

"I cannot believe this could happen to such a nice young person. I just feel for his parents."

The youngster lived in the village, at Station House, with parents John and Dawn and played football for Marsh Gibbon FC when he was younger.

Chief Insp Jill Wootton, deputy head of Thames Valley Roads Policing, said detectives were trying to find out where the youngsters had spent their evening and appealing for any witnesses who saw the blue Ford Fiesta.

She added: "It is a very tragic incident with five young people involved, four deceased and one still in hospital.

"We currently have no witnesses as far as I am aware and we need to get a clearer picture of where this vehicle was prior to the incident and where these five were out together during the evening.

"We are trying to track the vehicle's movements and those enquiries are still on-going.

"But our hearts go out to all the families of all the young people. It will be devastating for all those involved."

Witnesses said the car had split in half.

Passers-by and motorists rushed to help the boys before paramedics arrived but four were later declared dead at the scene.

A spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service said a crew was dispatched six minutes after the first emergency call had been made and a crew had arrived by 12.50am.

The ambulance control room was experiencing three times the normal number of calls while it was dealing with the crash, the spokesman said.

She added: "But we are not aware of any evidence to suggest there was any unnecessary delay in dispatching the ambulance."

Police closed the road for several hours to launch an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Anyone who witnessed the accident or saw the group earlier in the evening should contact police on 0845 8 505 505.