FOUR people including a young volleyball star from Poole were killed and several others seriously injured following a day of carnage on Dorset roads.

Tragedy marred the Bank Holiday weekend when emergency crews were called out to deal with two fatal crashes and one serious accident in the space of five-and-a-half hours on Sunday.

Eighteen-year-old Mark Pitman, along with a man in his late 20s from Cornwall and a woman in her late 20s, thought to be from Essex, all died in an accident at Merley, near Wimborne.

They were among five people travelling in a Renault 19 when their vehicle collided with a Rover 620 saloon at the junction of Queen Anne Drive and Lynwood Drive.

The occupants of the Renault had been returning from the Poole Festival of Volleyball competition at Hamworthy Recreation Club in Canford Magna.

Thousands of people from all over the world had attended the competition and following news of the accident a silent tribute was paid by all competitors.

Mark, from Poole, was a rising star of the Wessex Volleyball Club who won five national junior championships, four of them as captain.

In July he also bagged a national title in the beach volley championships held at Sandbanks.

Queen Anne Drive was closed for six hours while emergency crews attended the scene and the debris was cleared.

The two other people in the Renault were slightly injured and the Rover driver was taken to Poole Hospital where he was kept in overnight for treatment.

This tragic accident came after a horrific collision on the A35 Upton bypass.

The male passenger of a Vauxhall VX convertible was killed when it collided with a 55-seater coach at the eastbound slip road from Upton.

The Damory coach was carrying 38 people when it collided with the car joining the eastbound dual carriageway.

The passenger in the sports car died and was named today as Jason Kirk Shelley, 32, of Parkstone.

The driver, a Poole man in his late 20s who works in Christchurch, sustained serious chest injuries and was taken to Poole hospital for treatment. The bypass was closed for six hours.

To add to the day of trauma on Dorset's roads, a Poole man sustained life-threatening injuries when his Vauxhall Vectra was in collision with a Peugeot 405 estate on Old Wareham Road in Poole at 3.30pm.

The occupants of the Peugeot, a Poole man and his 10-year-old and eight-year-old daughters, were uninjured but in shock.

Inspector Julian Stone, of Dorset Police's road policing unit, described the day of accidents as a "tragedy" and is appealing for witnesses to all three to come forward.

Contact Dorset Police on 01202 222500.