A MAN has died in a car crash on a notorious stretch of road that campaigners say is dangerously unlit.

The 19-year-old, from the Czech Republic, is the second person to be killed on the A671 Accrington Road in Whalley this month.

Two other people, a man and a woman, who were in the same car are fighting for their lives in hospital.

The group of four Czech teenagers were travelling in a white Skoda Favorit which collided with a silver Vauxhall Vectra taxi at the Springwood traffic lights at 10pm on Saturday.

The 18-year-old driver of the car and a 19-year-old woman are seriously ill in hospital.

The other passenger, an 18-year-old man, and the 47-year-old taxi driver, who comes from Clitheroe, were also taken to hospital but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Police have not named the man who was killed as they are still trying to contact his relatives through the Czech Embassy.

It is thought the teenagers, who do not speak English, arrived in England on holiday three days ago, possibly to visit friends in the Great Harwood area.

The crash was yards away from the spot where 79-year-old Elizabeth Jephson, who was born in Burnley and lived in Barrow, was killed in a head-on collision when her Rover 25 collided with a Mercedes on January 2.

Whalley councillor Joyce Holgate renewed her calls for county council chiefs to install lighting on the stretch.

She said: "It's very badly lit. People have complained to me about it in the past.

"This is yet another person killed on a short stretch of road, and people need to look at extending the lighting.

"They can't keep on having people killed there."

Countryside ranger Paul Shoreman, who is based at the Springwood picnic site, said: "It's not uncommon for me to hear the screeching of brakes out there, and I have been out and seen quite a lot of bumps.

"It's a regular spot for accidents. I have been here for five years and I have seen between five and 10 fairly serious ones."

Sergeant Mick Young, of Blackburn's Road Policing Unit, said it was too early to say what had happened.

He appealed for witnesses, including the people in Great Harwood that the group were visiting, to come forward to help officers piece together what happened.

Anyone with information should call (01254) 353205.