Motorists and farmers have been urged to be tolerant of each other on country lanes in Ryedale and Scarborough during the harvest season. Rob Simpson, spokesman for the National Farmers Union, said there would be more farm vehicles on the roads in the next few weeks as a result of farmers harvesting their crops, and there would also be a rise in holiday traffic as the summer season reaches its peak.

"We are urging motorists to be patient," he said. But farmers are also being urged to co-operate by pulling into lay-bys to avoid building up long queues of traffic, and to make sure that lights and brakes on their vehicles are in working order and that loads are well secured.