POLICE believe ice was a significant factor in an accident on York Outer Ring Road which left one man dead and another injured.

The crash between a Securicor van and a lorry happened on Saturday morning between the A64 and B1224 Wetherby Road, at about the same time as a spate of seven accidents on the nearby A59, which involved vehicles skidding on icy road surfaces. City of York Council's gritting procedures have since been criticised, and are set to be raised at a council meeting next week by Liberal Democrats.

Officers have defended their decision not to grit roads in the early hours of Saturday, which they say was made because weather forecasts failed to predict snow which fell overnight. Readers who rang the Evening Press on Saturday to complain about ice on the A59 said conditions were also poor on the ring road.

Police said at the time that it was too early to tell whether ice was a factor in the ring road crash, in which Christopher Farrell, 42, of Haxby, who was in the van, suffered fatal injuries and Philip Scanlon, 50, of Cornlands Road, Acomb, also in the van, was injured.

Now Sergeant Graham Carroll, in charge of the investigation, has said: "We believe icy conditions played a significant contribution to the cause of the crash."

He stressed that the probe was not completed, and declined to comment on council gritting policies. A spokesman for Mr Farrell's family said no one wished to comment yet on the circumstances surrounding the accident, which had devastated them.

His funeral takes place at 1pm next Monday at St Margaret Clitherow Church, Haxby.

Mr Scanlon returned home from hospital yesterday, but is still recovering from his injuries.

Updated: 12:06 Thursday, January 09, 2003