THE A64 near Malton has finally re-opened, almost six hours after a crash left five people hurt and caused massive traffic jams on the route to the coast.

North Yorkshire Police tweeted at 3pm: "After a very lengthy delay we are happy to confirm that the A64 at Huttons Ambo, Ryedale has been reopened.

"Our apologies if you have been caught in the traffic, please try and enjoy the rest of your bank holiday weekend."

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said two people were taken to York Hospital, and one to Scarborough Hospital, all by road ambulance. 

But North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said a man was taken to hospital suffering from head injuries, and another man, a woman and two children were also taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.

Motorists heading to and from the coast faced long delays because of the road closure, and 'gridlock' was reportedly caused in nearby villages by vehicles taking a detour.

A man has also tweeted that he couldn't get through to police on 101 but wanted to warn that 'due to the backup' on on the westbound A64 at the A169 Pickering roundabout, people 'are driving up the wrong sliproad and an accident looks imminent.'

A woman tweeted that 'me & the girls walked up the A64 and into Malton, leaving Shane in car.

"We got the train home and he got back about 30 mins ago!" she said. "Stuck for about 3hrs, I think it was still blocked going to York & would be cleared by 4."

Emergency services were called to the crash at 9.50am.

Coastliner tweeted that its buses to the coast were having to be diverted from Malton through Stamford Bridge westbound until the road had reopened.

Police tweeted that traffic was queued back to Whitwell on the Hill on the eastbound side adding:

"Thanks for your patience while we deal with this collision. But for your own safety please stay inside your vehicles if you are stuck in tailbacks. Thank you."

A woman tweeted that the A64 closure was causing havoc in the surrounding area, with Welburn village 'gridlocked.'