Updated: A WOMAN had to be cut free from the wreckage after a car, a lorry and a bus carrying schoolchildren crashed near York.

The accident happened shortly before noon yesterday, about half a mile east of the Hopgrove roundabout on the A64. A lorry and a Peugeot car collided and then a passing bus was clipped, said North Yorkshire Police.

Neither the driver of the lorry nor any of the children, who are understood to have been on their way to a school trip in Whitby, were injured.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, who was at the scene, said: "One woman was trapped and she was released using cutting equipment."

She was taken to York Hospital, where her injuries were described by North Yorkshire Police as "serious but not life threatening". She is believed to be in her forties and from the Leicester area.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: "We got a call from police to the Hopgrove to a two-vehicle road traffic collision.

"We sent a rapid response vehicle, two ambulances and an emergency care practitioner."

"We took one patient to York Hospital. We also looked at six other patients but they were all discharged at the scene."

Police say all the vehicles involved were travelling eastbound at the time and an appeal for witnesses has now been issued. One lane of the eastbound carriageway was closed during the afternoon as police organised a clear-up operation, causing a massive hold up and traffic queuing for three hours.

If you witnessed the accident, contact North Yorkshire Police on 101.