AN actor in the popular TV drama Heartbeat was airlifted to hospital yesterday after he was hit by a runaway vintage tractor.

The Sixties blue Ford tractor careered down an embankment during filming and crashed into two trees before rolling over.

The driver and three other members of the film crew were also hurt and taken to hospital.

The guest actor, believed to be 55-year-old Zig Byfield, also known as Trevor Byfield, suffered chest injuries.

He was airlifted to the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening.

Mr Byfield has appeared in numerous television programmes, including Spooks, The Bill and Minder, as well as having a role in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye.

The real-life drama unfolded yesterday morning as the police show was being filmed about a mile from the village of Grosmont, on the North York Moors.

Witness Jack Ellis, 20, who lives in Grosmont, said: “The tractor started driving slowly down the hill, but suddenly shot forward faster.

“Everyone ran to try and get out of the way. It crashed into a tree, then smashed into another tree.

“It hit three people who hadn’t got out of the way in time and it rolled over.

“It came to land back on its wheels and was in a total mess. Thankfully, it sounds like nobody has been seriously hurt.”

An investigation into the cause of the accident has been launched.

Officers from North Yorkshire Police are working alongside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the inquiry.

An ITV spokeswoman said the network would co-operate with the investigation.

She said: “Following the accident during the filming of Heartbeat, four members of the crew were taken to hospital.

“They were treated for minor injuries.

“We hope they will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday.

“The health and safety of our cast and crew are of paramount importance.

“ITV follows strict safety guidelines and a full risk assessment before filming.”

Emergency services gathered outside the nearby Station Tavern, after the crash, at about 9.20am yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Great North Air Ambulance said: “We were called to an incident involving a male, after a tractor came down an embankment.

“He had crush injuries to his chest.

“There was a doctor on board the air ambulance, who gave him advanced pain relief, as he was being flown to the hospital.”

Stewart Michie, landlord of the Station Tavern, said: “I saw an old tractor, it was an old-fashioned blue one and I heard it chugging away.

“I was out walking with my dogs. I could see, from where we were, where they were filming.

“I heard ambulances, but I did not know it was anything to do with Heartbeat.

“The ambulances were parked outside the pub when I got back, and someone told me about the accident.”

Mr Michie, 43, said the crew had asked for permission to leave vehicles in his car park.

He said: “Where they were going to film was off-road, so normal cars could not reach it.

“You would have to cross two fords, so the only vehicles that would make it would be 4x4s.”

The four crew members, including a camera operator, were taken to hospital in Scarborough, but were later discharged.

A spokeswoman for the HSE said: “We have been made aware of this incident, and preliminary inquiries as to what has happened are ongoing.”

Heartbeat, which is set in the Sixties and centres around the police station of the fictional moors village of Aidensfield, was first aired on ITV in 1992.