SAFETY work at a notorious accident blackspot appears to have paid dividends.

Since the measures were completed at Golden Hill, on the A64, near Malton, earlier this year, the stretch has been virtually incident free.

The work involved removing a crawler lane, new signs and road resurfacing and followed a spate of accidents, including two which claimed three lives.

Highways Agency route manager Andrew Jennings said: "So far we have been pleased with the outcome and we have not had any reports of accidents.

"The new layout has also been tested over a couple of busy Bank Holidays now, but again the increased traffic did not appear to cause any major problems."

However, he said it was still early days and advised drivers to use caution.