A murder inquiry was under way today after a young man was found dead by police officers on patrol on an Oxford estate.

A tent hides the murder scene as police search the area for clues

The body was found in a green Renault Laguna car in Spencer Crescent, Rose Hill, late on Saturday night.

Just an hour before, a 16-year-old boy from the same street died in a motorbike accident in nearby Littlemore.

One resident told the Oxford Mail it was "quite frightening" to learn of two tragedies happening so close together.

Scenes-of-crime officers cordoned off both ends of Spencer Crescent yesterday.

Only residents were allowed access as forensic officers carried out a fingertip search of gardens in the quiet terraced street.

A tent covered one of the front gardens of the houses near the junction with Dashwood Road. Officers also searched nearby drains and hedgerows.

It is understood that the vehicle the dead man was in was removed yesterday morning for forensic analysis.

Two 18-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of murder.

They are still being questioned.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said they were not naming the victim, or giving any details about him at this stage.

Police are appealing for anyone who was in the Rose Hill area between 9pm and 11.45pm on Saturday to contact them on 08458 505505. Resident Alison Byles, 34, of Spencer Crescent, said: "All we've heard is that there was a body found in a car, and a 16-year-old boy who lives in the road died in an accident.

"We were all shocked with everything this morning.

"It was two things in the same street - it was quite frightening to be honest, it was unreal."

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: "It has always been a safe street.

"I've lived here for the best part of 20 years and I've never heard of anything like this happening."

The murder investigation is the third for Oxford police in the past two months.

It follows the death of popular Oxford character Graham Playle, who died following an incident outside a kebab van in Bonn Square last month.

A 24-year-old Barton man has been charged with his murder.

Earlier the same month Anthony Holder, 51, died after being stabbed in a recreation ground off Whitehouse Road, south Oxford. A 31-year-old man has been charged with his murder.

Bill Buckingham, city councillor for Rose Hill, said: "I'm very surprised at this, although there has been a surge in vandalism and things like that on the estate recently, but this has shaken me because it's going to the extreme.

"I've asked the police to provide more patrols, but I think the bigger problem is we don't have a stable community and that concerns me greatly."

The 16-year-old boy on the motorbike is thought to have died after hitting a traffic barrier. He has not been named by police.

Paramedics called to Long Lane, Littlemore, treated the teenager for serious injuries but he is understood to have died after a heart attack.