Three people were killed when a car towing a caravan was driven in the wrong direction on a busy motorway for several minutes.

The Subaru Forester SUV, which is believed to have had foreign plates, sped into oncoming traffic in the fast lane of the northbound carriageway of the M40, forcing other vehicles to swerve out of its way.

It crashed into two other cars - a Ford Mondeo and a Ford Focus - near Junction 6 in Lewknor, Oxfordshire, shortly before 4pm on Monday.

The driver and a passenger in the Forester, believed to be a couple in their 80s, and the driver of the Mondeo, a man in his 30s, died.

The Forester is thought to have joined the M40 at Junction 7, which is around six miles north of the crash site or Junction 8, which is 8.5 miles north.

Thames Valley Police said it began receiving reports of a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction “a few minutes” before the crash.