A 21-YEAR-OLD secretary from York has died in a car accident in County Durham.

Rebekah Lucy Stephens, of Festival Flats, Fishergate, died when the blue Vauxhall Astra in which she was a passenger collided with a tree and overturned in a field at about 12.30am on Saturday, on the A66 at Cross Lanes, two miles south of Barnard Castle.

The accident is thought to have occurred after the car, driven by a 19-year-old man believed to be from Bedale, clipped the kerb and went out of control.

The driver was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

Rebekah worked full-time as a secretary at The Retreat hospital for psychiatric illness in Heslington Road, not far from the flat she shared with friends.

The Retreat's human resources director, Ted Jackson, said he was unwilling to comment until Rebekah's family, who live in North Yorkshire, had had time to come to terms with the tragedy.

Durham Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident and the coroner has been notified.

Updated: 10:13 Monday, October 11, 2004