An elderly woman and a pet dog died in a head-on collision on the A19 today.

The accident happened outside the Black Bull Inn in the village of Thormanby, north of Easingwold.

The woman killed in the crash was driving a silver Corsa in the direction of Thirsk.

Police said that for reasons unknown the car swerved into the path of a heavy goods vehicle travelling towards Easingwold.

A dog travelling in the woman's Corsa was also killed in the accident.

The A19 was shut for two hours north and south of Thormanby and queues built up to two miles long in both directions.

Traffic Sergeant John Largen, of Northallerton Police Station, said: "A saloon car, a Silver Corsa, was travelling towards Thirsk and for reasons that we are not aware of the car swerved to the offside and collided head-on with an articulated lorry travelling in the opposite direction.

"We had to shut the road for two hours. But most of the traffic that was queuing turned round and found their way along the back roads."

The driver of the articulated lorry was uninjured in the crash, but badly shaken, and did not need hospital treatment.

Sergeant Largen said that the road through Thormanby was the only one on the whole of the A19 between York and Thirsk on which drivers had to travel over a crest.

Rush-hour traffic came to a standstill yesterday afternoon after a two-car smash blocked both carriageways of the A19 for twenty minutes.

The collision between a Fiat Brava and a Volkswagen Golf caused long tailbacks as police officers cleared the vehicles and debris from the road in Escrick.

An 18-year-old passenger suffered broken bones when a Renault car driven by his mother was in a head-on collision with another car near Market Weighton yesterday.

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