A TEENAGE driver was killed when his car collided head-on with a heavy goods vehicle in a horrific accident on a major road near York.

The 18-year-old man, from the Ripon area, died after his red Vauxhall Astra estate car apparently crossed into the opposite lane of the A59, near Hessay, and collided with an oncoming rigid goods vehicle.

The impact of the collision, which happened at about 11.15am yesterday, forced the Astra back into the correct lane and smashed it into the Ford Orion car behind, injuring a mother and son.

The unladen 12-tonne lorry, which had been travelling towards York, left the road and crashed through an 8ft-high hedge into adjacent farm land.

Debris was scattered across both lanes of the A59 and the severely damaged Astra was left straddling the northbound side of the road.

The road was closed for almost five hours as emergency workers cleared the scene.

Inspector Paul Bilton, of North Yorkshire Police road policing group at Tadcaster, said there was a "heavy impact" when the north-bound Vauxhall moved into the opposite carriageway. He said the car, which was in a line of traffic, was thrown back by the force of the impact, colliding with a Red Ford Orion that had been following it.

A mother and son were travelling in the Orion, with the son at the wheel. The pair, who were thought to be local, were taken by ambulance to York District Hospital with minor injuries.

The haulage driver, also local, suffered minor injuries but did not attend hospital.

Insp Bilton said that certain causes for the accident, such as excess speed, had already been ruled out.

He said: "At this early stage I would say this is nothing to do with the road whatsoever.

"This was a straight stretch of road, and you wonder how an accident could have happened."

Emergency service workers used heavy cutting equipment to free the man from the wreckage.

Officers set up diversions at the A1 (M) roundabout, the nearby Hessay turn-off and the junction of the A59 with the York ring road.

Resident Beryl Otley who lives nearby said the accident was a terrible tragedy.

Mrs Otley, 60, who owns Get Ahead Hats, said: "It's very sad that someone has lost a son, partner or father."

Updated: 11:31 Wednesday, September 04, 2002