The M-reg BMW was traveling between Gore Hill and Wash Common when the car hit the tree on Enborne Street, at 9pm.

The driver and back seat passenger, both local and in their 40s, died instantly, while the front seat passenger was taken to Basingstoke Hospital for tests, after dialing 999 from the wreck.

The road was reopened at 11pm.

West Berks on the up

West Berkshire Council has pulled its socks up, and is the sixth most improved all-purpose council in the country. A third of the 150 unitary authorities in England and Wales have received better government ratings this year, after raising their game with local services. Newbury has had a single-tier authority since 1998.

Phoenix flats

Plans to revive the Phoenix Brewery, behind James & Cowper in Bartholomew Street, by turning it into a trendy wine bar, have collapsed.

Marketing expert Mark Smith has lodged plans to turn the space into six flats and two bedsits, after police turned down his alcohol licence because the route was not on their main patrol route.

Norgate’s back

Mark Norgate’s Donnington Homes are back in action this week with plans to build four new homes in a garden in Andover Road, and replace a bungalow with two new houses in nearby Battery End. Andover Road has become a developers’ haven recently, with more and more period homes demolished to make way for high density maisonettes, flats and homes, causing some local consternation.