Car crash victim had been shot

A woman was found dead with gunshot wounds behind the wheel of a car which had crashed into a house, police said today.

A male passenger in the car had also been shot and is now in hospital fighting for his life, Scotland Yard said.

Police were called to reports of gunshots and a road accident at Watling Street, in Bexleyheath, Kent, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Officers arrived to find the car, a green Nissan Bluebird, crashed into a house and the female driver and her male passenger both shot.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the male victim is now in a critical condition in hospital.

Police were first called to the incident in Bexleyheath at around 2.20am.

Then just after 3am a burnt out vehicle was found on Rochester Way in Dartford a few miles away. This has been cordoned off by police.

A man was arrested near to the burnt out car and has been taken to a police station in south London for questioning.

Detectives are now at the scene trying to find out exactly what happened and say they are keeping an open mind as to the motive for the shooting.

A police spokesman said the murder investigation is at an early stage and no names of the victims, or further details about the incident, have as yet been released.

The road between Bexleyheath and Watling Street will be closed for the rest of the day.