A MAN from Darlington has been left fighting for his life after his car left the road in the Yorkshire Dales.

Police are appealing for information after a Ford Mondeo left the road between Low Row and Gunnerside in Swaledale.

It happened at around 11am on Thursday, December 28.

On arrival officers found the vehicle had come to rest approximately 50 metres from the road in a field.

When fire crews from Reeth and Hawes arrived at the scene, they found two people in the car, one who had managed to escape by himself and the other trapped inside the vehicle. They cut the roof from the car and removed the man with the help of paramedics.

The driver, a man aged in his 30s from the Darlington area, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted by the Great North Air Ambulance to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough where he remains in a critical condition.

The passenger in the car, a 17-year-old boy, also from the Darlington area, sustained less serious injuries and was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital.

A spokesman for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) said: "We were called to assist Yorkshire Air Ambulance as the patient required anaesthetising on scene.

"We then flew him to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough."

The B6270 between Low Row and Gunnerside was closed for approximately five hours to allow emergency services to attend to the casualties and while investigators examined the scene of the collision.

Volunteers with Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team were also called to the scene to help care for the casualties.

The group posted on its Facebook page: “Local team members on scene providing casualty care supported by Reeth fire crews, police and ambulance. The roads are slippy and with low sunlight in the early afternoon, take care.”

Later in the afternoon there was another accident new Low Row, when a van collided with a wall and came to rest upside down. Firefighters from Reeth arrived to find the driver of the van was out and unharmed.

  • Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Richmond Roads Policing Group. Or email john.lumbard@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk Please quote reference number 12170231022 when passing on information.