A POLICE car has collided on the A64 with a vehicle suspected of containing a man wanted in connection with armed robberies.

The westbound dual carriageway near Malton was blocked for six hours after the collision at 10am today.

North Yorkshire Police said a man in his forties was arrested after his car was in collision with a police vehicle.

"Officers believed that the vehicle contained a person wanted in connection with armed robberies in the south of England," said a force spokeswoman.

"The vehicle was sighted on the A64 near Scarborough at around 9.30am on Saturday morning and officers began to track the vehicle as it travelled westbound.   

"At around 10am, the vehicle collided with a police vehicle on the A64 near the junction with the B1257. Both vehicles were travelling in the same direction at the time."

She said a man in the car, who was the sole occupant, was taken to hospital with suspected abdominal  injuries but had since been discharged and was now in police custody, having previously been arrested at the scene.  

Two police officers inside the police vehicle were uninjured but attended hospital for a check-up, she added.

"Anyone who was travelling on the A64 at around 9.30am to 10am between Scarborough and Malton and witnessed the collision is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101 and pass information for incident  12190038235."

She said the road reopened at about 4pm.

Photographs of the crash sent to The Press by York man Sam McKee show a damaged police vehicle, and another vehicle lying on its side.

Sam said he was a passenger in a car heading from York to Scarborough when his vehicle was driven past the crash on the opposite carriageway.

 "It looks like the police car's collided with a non-police car," he said.

"It looks pretty bad. There are a lot of emergency vehicles there. There are ambulances as well as police cars. The police have blocked off the road just after the entrance to Old Malton, York-bound."

More dramatic pictures from the crash are here.

Highways England tweeted at noon that traffic into Malton was backing up and people should expect delays if travelling in the area.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said crews from Malton and Pickering had gone to the scene of a two-vehicle collision on the dual carriageway near Malton to assist with providing first aid and making the scene safe.