A TANKER driver was hurled from his cab onto the opposite carriageway after his lorry smashed into a road barrier and rolled over.

The man was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition after the accident on the A1 southbound carriageway, near Catterick, North Yorkshire, at around 2.45pm yesterday.

He was flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough with injuries described as multiple and life-threatening.

The articulated tanker, which had a white tanker body and a blue cab, was travelling south on the A1 between the two Catterick junctions.

The vehicle collided with the nearside barrier before rolling over and coming to rest across the two lanes of the A1.

The driver was thrown from the cab onto the north-bound carriageway.

He was anaesthetised at the scene by the air ambulance doctor before being flown out by the Great North Air Ambulance.

His condition is described as serious.

No other vehicles were involved in the collision.

The road was closed while police and paramedics dealt with the casualty and made the scene safe. It reopened at around 5.15am on Sunday.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: "A number of witnesses have come forward already and police are asking anyone else who saw the tanker travelling south-bound before it crashed, and anyone who witnessed the tanker overturn, to come forward."

Anyone with any information is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 1 and ask for Traffic Constable Emma Wallace, or you can email emma.wallace@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk