A 78-YEAR-OLD woman was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving after another woman was killed in a crash.

The two vehicle crash happened at the A174 eastbound near Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough on Friday night.

Linda Pyers, 70, of Coulby Newham, was pronounced dead at James Cook University hospital shortly after she was taken there by ambulance.

At around 6.45pm, the silver Toyota Avensis she was travelling in was in collision with a black VW transporter van on the eastbound off slip road at Low Lane. 

The road was closed with diversions put in place while emergency services and Highways North East dealt with the incident.  It reopened at 12.40am on Saturday.

Another passenger from the Avensis, a 79-year-old woman was taken to James Cook University Hospital for minor injuries and was later released.

The 78-year-old woman driver of the Avensis was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and has been released under investigation.

"Officers spoke to a number of witnesses at the scene however we believe the road was very busy at the time and we would ask anyone who has not yet spoken to police or who may have dashcam footage of the incident to contact Sergeant Darren Breslin of the Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit via the 101 number quoting Event 15316," said police.

The family of Linda Pyers have released a tribute saying: “Linda was a much loved mother, grandmother and family member to all of our family. She will be deeply missed by us all and many of her friends.

“We as a family would like to request privacy at this time to enable us to come to terms with what has happened.”