Updated: A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after one of three crashes in the Selby district.

The woman, believed to be aged 50, was a passenger in the Rover 25, which came off the A162 near Barkston Ash, and ended up on its roof in a ditch at about 9am yesterday.

Fire crews and emergency services were called to the scene, near Sherburn-in-Elmet, and the road was closed in both directions for several hours.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said the woman had been cut free by fire crews and airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary with serious abdominal injuries. The female driver was uninjured.

The incident was one of three single-vehicle accidents in the Selby district in the early hours of Friday, all thought to have been caused by ice on the roads.

In another crash, at about 8am yesterday, a man was left shocked but uninjured after he lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa on ice outside RAF Church Fenton, and hit a wall.

In Brayton, an ambulance was called after a Toyota Yaris overturned near Selby Golf Club. The accident was also believed to have been caused by icy conditions on the road.

The male driver was not taken to hospital, but was treated by paramedics at the scene, in Mill Lane, at about 8.30am.

Temperatures are expected to drop as low as minus 1.4C in parts of North Yorkshire over the next two days, and Sergeant Neil Dunn of Selby Police urged motorists to take care.

He said: “The roads seem to be freezing over quite badly and when they do, we’re getting quite a lot of road traffic collisions.

“The majority of them result in only minor damage and minor injuries, but drivers must make sure their vehicles are fully de-iced before setting off and ensure their windscreens are fully cleared.”