TWO men who died earlier this week in a three-vehicle crash on one of the region's most notorious roads have been named by police.

Geoff Donaldson, 57, was the driver of a van which was wrecked in the collision on the A66 trans-Pennine route on Tuesday morning.

Mr Donaldson, of The Wynd, Bowes, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, was travelling to Redcar, in east Cleveland, to work as an agricultural builder when the crash happened shortly after 7.30am.

He was certified dead at the scene by a local GP.

A second motorist, Christopher Laidlaw, 44, of Linton Rise, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, was taken by air ambulance to the James Cook University Hospital, Teesside, with multiple injuries. He died later that day while undergoing surgery.

The 21-year-old female driver of the third vehicle involved, also from Catterick Garrison, suffered shock but was otherwise unhurt.

The crash happened on a stretch of single-carriageway linking two lengths of dual carriageway, between Greta Bridge and Cross Lanes, near Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Over the past decade, the road has claimed more than 70 lives.

Yesterday, Mr Donaldson's partner of eight years, Daphne Jones, said he had always felt the A66 was a dangerous road and, although he used it regularly for work, he hated the route.

Mrs Jones, 56, a day care worker in Richmond, said: "It's an awful road - a really cruel way for Geoff to lose his life. I don't want him to be remembered as another of the A66's victims.

"Whatever he did, he did it well. He was a wonderful cook, who ran a catering van in the area.

"When he was 40, he started horse riding and did well at one-day events in the North of England and Scotland."

Mr Donaldson was originally from Easingwold, near York, where he ran a building firm. He moved to Bowes in 1999.

He is survived by two daughters, Sally and Joanne, of York, and Mrs Jones' daughter Christina. He also had a son, Wayne, who died in his 20s.

The Northern Echo has been at the forefront of a campaign to Fix the A66, backing a proposed £11m scheme to upgrade it to dual carriageway between Scotch Corner and Penrith, in Cumbria. The plans were welcomed by most local people at a public inquiry last month.

Witnesses to the crash are asked to contact Durham Police on 0191- 375 2159.