A PENSIONER has suffered serious injuries and two others have been treated in hospital following a crash on a notoriously dangerous stretch of road.

Firefighters cut a trapped pensioner free from the wreckage of a vehicle after a crash near Northallerton last night.

Crews from Stokesley and Northallerton used hydraulic cutting equipment to free a 73-year-old man from an Astra van which was in collision with a Vauxhall Astra car, at 8.05pm on the A172 at Swainby.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said the occupants of the car were taken to hospital after the crash.

All three people were taken to hospital by ambulance with a combination of neck, spinal and seatbelt injuries.

The collision follows several serious accidents on the stretch of road in recent years, including a crash involving a minibus and a car at the crossroads, in which six people were injured and another in which a motorist died after his car overturned.

Residents have said while the straight stretch of the A172 had been the site of dozens of accidents over decades, concerns were mounting over the number of collisions.