A MAN was killed in front of his wife when a lorry ploughed into their parked car next to the A1 in North Yorkshire.

The couple's car was parked on the hard shoulder of the A1 northbound, at Kirby Hill, close to Boroughbridge, when it was hit by the lorry.

Police said today that the lorry driver, who is thought to be from Wales, was arrested after the crash and was later released on police bail.

The couple were said to be middle-aged and from Scotland.

It is believed the man was changing a wheel at the time of the crash. He was confirmed dead at the scene.

His wife was taken to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton suffering severe shock, but was later released.

Two ambulances and two ambulance group station officers were sent to the scene, while the Great North Air Ambulance was called out, but not needed.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service sent one fire engine from Boroughbridge, and a fire engine and an emergency tender from Ripon.

The A1 was closed for several hours after yesterday's accident, which happened at about 2.40pm.

Diversions were put in place via the A168 before the road was partly reopened at 9.30pm and fully reopened at midnight.

The crash took place only yards away from one of the worst accidents in North Yorkshire's history, which caused the deaths of six people.

In that incident, in November 2000, a Vauxhall Carlton car clipped barriers on the central reservation, flipped over and came to rest on the hard shoulder.

The three people in the car, York social worker Sandra Jennings, 37, her sister Karen McCutcheon, 39 and brother-in-law Colin McCutcheon, 44, both of Aberdeen, survived the initial impact.

Good Samaritans Stephen Madison, 43, his 39-year-old wife Wendy, of Topcliffe, near Thirsk, and trucker David Cooper, 33, of Chester, stopped to help the McCutcheons and Ms Jennings.

But seconds later an articulated lorry ploughed into the three vehicles, killing all six people.

Lorry driver Brian France was jailed for six years, reduced to five on appeal, after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

York Crown Court was told how the 55-year-old trucker had been driving erratically before the crash, and had either taken his eyes off the road to read work documents or fallen asleep at the wheel.

An AA patrolman died in 1998 when he was hit by a lorry as he changed a caravan wheel near Dishforth airfield, about four miles north of where the most recent crash occurred.

Any witnesses to yesterday's crash are asked to ring the police on 01423 539474.

Updated: 11:40 Tuesday, October 01, 2002