A VAN crashed on to the York-Harrogate railway line and two people were seriously injured in a major crash on the York Outer Ring Road as icy roads caused scores of accidents today.

The Orion Windows Transit van spun across the A59 near the Red Lion pub, at Poppleton, crashed through a barrier, down an embankment and across the York-Harrogate railway line before crashing into an embankment on the far side.

A passenger was taken to York Hospital for treatment for minor injuries. The driver was unhurt.

The crash closed the York to Harrogate line. Passengers for Knaresborough were forced to travel via Leeds. Tailbacks were reported for miles in both directions on the A59, although by 11am traffic was moving.

The crew of a security van were seriously injured when their vehicle was involved in a crash with a lorry on the A1237 York outer ring road, between Copmanthorpe and Rufforth, at about 10.15am.

Firefighters were called to cut the two men free from the wrecked Securicor van. Police were unable to say if icy road conditions had played a part in the accident.

The stretch of road was closed off between Copmanthorpe Top and the B1224 Wetherby Road.

An ambulance service spokeswoman said a man in his mid-thirties had been taken to hospital with "very serious injuries" and a 50-year-old man had been taken to York Hospital with spinal injuries.

Seven other accidents were also reported on the A59 in the Hessay area, with vehicles skidding into ditches.

Fire crews were first called to free a driver who escaped injury from a crashed car at about 8am, but stayed on to help other stricken motorists. Two other people were also taken to York Hospital in a two-vehicle crash. The extent of their injuries is not known.

A police spokesman said motorists were blaming lack of gritting on the roads for the accidents.

Bill Woolley, City of York Council assistant director of development and transport, said the A59 a mile west of Hessay had been gritted with high levels of salt at 4pm yesterday.

"We were aware it was going to snow and so increased the amount of salt accordingly," he said. The reason we gritted yesterday afternoon is that it is better to salt the roads before the snow falls. Gritting on top is not as effective.

"However, there will still be problems and we cannot always remove all the snow and ice when you grit roads. The problem has been made worse by standing flood water, freezing temperatures and a cold wind. Gritting is not a fool-proof system. We can confirm we will be increasing the frequency of road gritting as the cold weather is forecast to continue."

Updated: 13:09 Saturday, January 04, 2003