A MAN and a woman had an amazing escape when their car left the A64 near York and hit a tree.

The car, a white Peugeot, left the eastbound carriageway, outside The Buckles Inn, near Bilbrough.

The man and woman in the car, who are not thought to be local, escaped with minor injuries and were taken to York Hospital by ambulance.

Claire Stockwell, of Heworth, York, who had been driving behind the car immediately before the accident, said she saw the car veer wildly across the carriageway, spin off the road and somersault into the grass verge.

Claire, 22, said: "It all happened so quickly, I can't believe anyone got out of there alive, the entire back end was just destroyed.

"When it hit the tree I thought it was going to burst into flames.

"Lots of people from the pub came outside to see if they could help. It was awful."

Claire's passengers, Laura Sutcliffe and Charlotte Percival, phoned for an ambulance and went to see if they could help.

Charlotte, 23, said: "Someone from the pub helped to get the people out from the car and took them inside.

"They came back out and were wandering around covered in cuts. They seemed very shaken. Looking at that car you wouldn't think anyone would have walked away from it."

Andrew Johns, assistant manager of The Buckles Inn, helped to pull the man and woman to safety.

He said: "I helped them to crawl out of the passenger side window.

"Instinct just takes over when something like that happens, you don't really think about it, you just do it."

Police are seeking witnesses to the crash, which happened at about 7.40 last night. Anyone with information should phone 01904 631321.

Earlier yesterday, two drivers escaped unhurt when an HGV and a tractor and trailer collided on the A64.

The crash happened on the A64 westbound carriageway between Grimston Bar and the A19 interchange, at Fulford, York, at about 3.10pm.

Both vehicles contained one male, neither of whom were injured in the incident. Traffic was briefly held-up, but was moving again by about

Updated: 10:34 Thursday, July 17, 2003