Updated: A SECURITY van carrying nine prisoners crashed on the A64 between York and Tadcaster, causing chaos for thousands of motorists.

The van overturned near Slice Lane, just east of Tadcaster, at about 5pm yesterday while carrying prisoners from HMP Hull to a number of other jails.

A black Peugeot car and a white Ford Connect van were also involved in the crash.

Nobody was seriously injured, but the A64 was closed between the A1237, York outer ring road and the A162, and there were tailbacks of about six miles.

All prisoners were quickly accounted for and none escaped, said a spokesman for North Yorkshire Police.

Three of the prisoners were taken to York Hospital, two with spinal injuries and one with chest injuries. The van driver was also taken to York Hospital, with shoulder injuries.

The uninjured prisoners were returned to HMP Hull, while two other security workers on the van were uninjured. Dozens of police officers were called to the crash site, along with six ambulances, two doctors, two paramedic response teams and four fire engines.

Rebecca Payne, one of those caught up in the chaos, said on twitter she had been stuck for two hours, while trying to return home to Doncaster from an open day at the University of York.

Terry Madeley, deputy registrar at York St John University, said he set off from York at 5.20pm to get home to Leeds but was still stuck in traffic at 8.05pm, while Sarann Hudgell said the normal 45-minute journey from York to Leeds had taken her three hours and 20 minutes.

Another witness, returning from a geography field trip in York, said: “I saw a prison van lying on its side in the grass.

“There were two more cars on the side of the lane, one of which had a dent in, so both of them may have been involved.

“It must have just happened as people where getting out of their cars and ambulances were not there yet.”