FURTHER safety improvements are being planned on the A19 north of Thirsk, following the closure of gaps in the central reservation at Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton.

Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake says Highways England is pressing ahead with detailed design work on additional safety measures for a stretch of the road between the A172 Tontine junction and Trenholme Bar, near East Rounton.

"Designs are also being worked on for the road between the A684/Ellerbeck junction and Knayton, north of Thirsk," he said.

"The work includes the closing of central reservation gaps and some access points, new junctions, and improvements to safety barriers, signs and road markings after consultation with local people."

He said the work followed a joint campaign by himself and Richmond MP Rishi Sunak for safety improvements, following a crash in 2016 in which an 83-year-old woman, former York Fulford School teacher Sonia Rose, died when a van drifted through a gap at Mount Grace Priory and hit her car as it was travelling in the opposite direction.