A MOTORCYCLIST and passenger were injured in a crash in North Yorkshire.

The crash happened on the A170 between Helmsley and Sutton Bank at about 5pm on Sunday, and a spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said it involved one motorcycle which had struck two deer.

A spokeswoman for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said one man was seriously injured in the crash, and was airlifted to James Cook Hospital by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. A second man was taken by road ambulance to York Hospital and the road was closed in both directions for 5 hours.

North Yorkshire Police's Road Policing Group took to social media to advise drivers to take an alternative route.