A WOMAN died on a North Yorkshire road after the car in which she was travelling crashed into a fence.

The accident happened a mile north of Easingwold at about 7.15pm yesterday.

The car, a black Mercedes saloon, was travelling north through Easingwold on the Thirsk road when it collided with a wooden fence on a left hand bend at White House Farm.

It then ended up in the middle of the road.

The female passenger was pronounced dead with head injuries at the scene.

Sergeant David Elders, of the road policing group at Easingwold, said officers believed the woman was local.

The male driver of the car was arrested and taken in an ambulance to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, where he is being detained with a serious arm injury.

Nine firefighters from Ripon and Easingwold stations attended the scene, along with six police officers and ambulance staff.

The road was closed for about seven hours last night while the accident was being investigated.

Paul and Sarah Caygill, of White House Farm, heard a loud bang last night as the car hit the fence.

She said: "All I heard was a crash. It happens on a regular basis, I'm afraid. We went out to help as best we could."

Police are appealing for anyone who saw the Mercedes saloon driving through Easingwold to phone Eastern Area Road Policing on 01609 783131.

Details of the dead woman and the injured man have not yet been revealed by police.

Updated: 11:00 Thursday, October 09, 2003