A TEENAGER has been killed in the latest fatal road smash near a village outside York.

The 18-year-old driver died after his Peugeot 306 collided with a Volkswagen Golf on the outskirts of Rufforth - scene of several crashes and a spate of fatalities in recent years.

Last night's rush-hour crash happened just before 5.30pm on the B1224 Rufforth-Long Marston road and triggered long tailbacks.

It happened on the Wetherby side of the village near a field used for car boot sales. Traffic police cordoned off the section of road for several hours. It re-opened at 12.30am, seven hours after the accident.

An ambulance spokesman said one person was confirmed dead at the crash scene.

A 17-year-old male passenger travelling in the Peugeot, and the female driver of the VW Golf, aged 69, were taken to York Hospital for treatment to minor injuries, according to a fire service spokeswoman.

The rush-hour accident comes less than a fortnight after a nearby crash. That accident, also on the Wetherby side of Rufforth, left two women in hospital with serious injuries.

In July, 2003, a man was taken to hospital after his car apparently crashed into a wall in the village.

Four people, including three young people from North Yorkshire, died in a car crash in January, 2002, on the B1224, about a mile away on the York side of Rufforth.

New safety measures are due to come into place soon, but residents today repeated their complaints about the condition of the road.

Rufforth Parish Council clerk Stephanie Warden said the safety record of the road was a concern, but City of York Council had approved traffic-calming measures.

Mrs Warden, a resident of 18 years, said: "We don't think the road surface is particularly good and we have been complaining about this for a long time."

She said proposed safety measures, due to be trialled soon, included rumble strips and two 30mph signs that provide "slow down" warnings to speeding motorists.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said: "We've been here five years and there have been umpteen crashes."

Inspector Peter Gold, of North Yorkshire Police, today appealed for witnesses to last night's crash to phone 0845 6060 247.

The woman killed in a crash on the A64 in York on Saturday when her car burst into flames has been named. As reported in later editions of yesterday's Evening Press, police said she was Patricia Anne Towse, 49, of Bramley, Leeds.

Updated: 09:57 Thursday, February 03, 2005