Three people were killed and another injured after a weekend of accidents on North Yorkshire's rural roads.

Motorcyclists involved in two single vehicle accidents, one near Sutton-on-the-Forest and the other near Sherburn-in-Elmet, were among the dead.

In the first incident, a Sunderland man in his mid-40s died when his blue Honda motorcycle failed to negotiate a right-hand bend as he rode from Helmsley towards York on the B1363 on Saturday.

The accident was witnessed by the 34-year-old driver of a Mercedes light goods vehicle, from Thirsk, who was waiting to turn on to the road at the Sheriff Hutton junction.

The motorcyclist, who was travelling with two other bikers, was taken to York Hospital but later died of his injuries.

A female motorcyclist from the Thorne area of Leeds died after her machine left a winding stretch of the B1222 Newthorpe to Sherburn-in-Elmet road at about 3am on Saturday.

And a woman died of her injuries after she was thrown from a Citroen Saxo car when it left an unclassified road and overturned between South Milford and the B1222.

A man travelling with her was released from the car by firefighters using cutting equipment and taken to Pontefract General Infirmary after the accident on Saturday.

Anyone with information about any of the three weekend accidents, or who saw the manner in which any of the vehicles were being driven beforehand, is asked to contact the police on 01904 631321.

Meanwhile, police are also appealing for witnesses after a head-on collision early on Friday morning between a Peugeot 106 and a lorry at Tanton, near Stokesley, left the woman car driver dead and two children injured.

The woman, from South Bank, Middlesbrough, was taken to Middlesbrough General Hospital after the accident on the B1365, but died of her injuries.

Anyone with information is asked to contact PC Andy Langford, of the Eastern Road Policing Group, on 01723 509555.

Updated: 10:20 Monday, March 24, 2003