ONE man is fighting for his life and another is seriously injured after three accidents at North and East Yorkshire blackspots.

The catalogue of crashes involved:

A collision between a car and a lorry at the notorious Bilbrough Top gap on the A64 between York and Tadcaster, which left one man fighting for his life

A head-on collision between two cars on the A19 at Thormanby, near Thirsk, where residents have long campaigned for a bypass

A three-car smash on the A166 at Garrowby Hill - at exactly the same spot as an accident just before Christmas in which three people died.

The Bilbrough accident left a man in intensive care at York Hospital with severe head injuries and another suffering a broken arm.

The two men were travelling on the westbound section of the A64 when their Ford Fiesta was in collision with a goods vehicle which was in a gap in the central reservation.

Part of the Fiesta's roof was ripped off by the impact.

The Evening Press has long campaigned to get the notorious gap closed and it is finally due to be shut this spring, prior to construction of a new flyover.

Sub-Officer Bob Hoskins, based at Tadcaster Fire Station, said: "So far this year we have turned out to more serious road accidents than we did in the whole of 2002.

"I would appeal to drivers to slow down, keep their distance and take extra care."

The men in the Fiesta have not yet been identified, but the front seat passenger was thought to be aged 20, and from Leeds.

The driver of the light goods vehicle, a 32-year-old man from Malton, was uninjured.

Anyone with information about the accident, which happened at about 5.40pm on Saturday, is asked to phone 01904 669727.

Three people were in a head-on crash at Thormanby.

A 24-year-old man driving a Ford Escort, named as Neil Joseph Oxley, from near Sunderland, was taken to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton with a suspected broken arm.

A couple named as Jason and Helen Edwards, of Nether Poppleton, in a Volkswagen Golf, suffered minor injuries.

Barry Dodds, chairman of Thormanby Parish Meeting, said today: "We have an accident a month here. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed. Thormanby needs a bypass now."

Witnesses to the crash, which happened at about 5.50pm yesterday, should phone 01723 509555.

Meanwhile, a Stamford Bridge man was seriously injured in a three vehicle pile-up at Garrowby Hill - the same spot where three people were killed four weeks ago. The man, said to be in his 20s, was cut out of his silver Vauxhall Corsa and taken to York Hospital.

The car went on to the wrong side of the road while travelling down the hill towards York and was in collision with a Skoda coming up the hill. Another vehicle, a VW Passat which was also coming up the hill, then collided with the Skoda.

Four people in the Skoda were walking wounded and two people in the Passat were uninjured.

The crash happened at about 8.45pm on Saturday.

Updated: 12:20 Monday, January 27, 2003