THREE people were injured when two cars crashed on the A19 at an accident blackspot near Selby.

Police closed part of the road for several hours while a 17-year-old was airlifted to hospital and investigations were carried out into the cause of the collision.

The crash between a Renault Clio and a Volkswagen Passat happened at the junction with the A63 at Barlby at about 12.27pm on Saturday.

The 17-year-old male driver of the Clio was taken to York Hospital by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance with serious chest injuries. His female passenger, also 17, and the 47-year-old woman driver of the Passat, were both treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to York Hospital by ambulance.

A Fire & Rescue Service spokeswoman said two fire crews from Selby attended and the driver of the Passat had been suffering from chest pains.

The Press told last year how residents had welcomed proposals to build a roundabout at the dangerous junction, saying it could reunite two villages split by the busy A19. Members of Barlby and Osgodby Parish Council backed the suggestion put forward by the Highways Agency to improve safety at the A19/A63 junction.

Brian Marshall, Barlby ward councillor at Selby District Council, said: "I've been campaigning on this for a number of years. First we were going to get a by-pass for Osgodby.

"We've had that many accidents and now there has been another one. There must be two or three near misses every day and three or four shunts a week.

"It's one of the fastest roads in North Yorkshire and an accident blackspot, but we have a school coach come over that crossing twice a day. It frightens me to think what could happen."