A 19-year-old died and two other people were seriously injured after a car crashed into a house.

Hertfordshire Police was called to Cromwell Way, Royston, at about 01:00 BST after reports a that a gold BMW 4 series had come off the A505 and hit a residential property.

The people inside the house were not injured, police added.

Emergency services remained at the scene while the vehicle was recovered and a structural engineer assessed the damage to the house.

Police said there were three males in the car and all were seriously injured, before one was pronounced dead at the scene.

They have issued an appeal for witnesses to and before the crash, and dashcam footage.

Sue Brew, 58, lives in the detached house next door and was woken up by the sound of a “vey loud bang”.

She opened her window to see flames and then quickly rushed outside to help, where “the lad in the front” of the car told her there had been two others in the vehicle with him.

“We couldn’t believe what we were seeing,” the neighbour said.

Another neighbour, George Mickleburgh, 31, lives three doors down from where the crash took place and was woken up by “a massive bang”.

“It was the sort of sound, where as soon as I heard it, I knew something serious had happened.”

He ran outside to see if he could help where he saw three people “not in a good way”.

“I saw the car on its side, someone outside the car, someone was getting out the car – there was a lot of people out on the street that came out to help.”

Det Sgt Ben Heath, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the man’s loved ones at this difficult time.

“Our inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the collision, and I am appealing for anyone with information to please contact us.

“If you have a dashcam fitted then please check it, because you may have recorded some crucial footage to help our investigation.”

Ruth Brown, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Hertfordshire County Council who represents Royston East and Ermine, said: “I’ve not been aware of a problem on this stretch of road before, but this is obviously a tragic incident that’s affected many people.

“We don’t know the cause yet and it will be subject of a police investigation, but once this cause is established, we will look at whether any improvements are needed to the highways.”