THREE people lost were killed and others were left seriously injured after a string of crashes in less than two hours on North Yorkshire roads.

Police said torrential rains which lashed the county yesterday afternoon may have been a factor in two of the crashes.

A man died after being airlifted to hospital by air ambulance following a head-on smash involving two cars on the A64 between Malton and Scarborough at about 3.45pm.

At about 4.30pm, another driver was killed in a two-car crash near Richmond and an hour later a biker died in a crash near Sherburn-in-Elmet.

A total of six people, including two children, were injured in the A64 crash, when a Vauxhall Cavalier and a BMW three-series collided head-on at East Heslerton.

The driver who died and three passengers, believed to be his wife and children, were travelling westbound in the Cavalier.

The collision forced the vehicle off the road and the driver, who suffered multiple fractures, had to be cut free before being airlifted to York District Hospital. He is believed to have been from Castleford, West Yorkshire.

The woman, aged 31, was suffering from spinal injuries and open fractures.

She and the two children, a boy aged seven suffering from multiple fractures, and a girl aged 11 suffering from head injuries, were taken by ambulance to Scarborough General.

The girl was later transferred by air ambulance to Hull Royal Infirmary where she was today said to be poorly but stable.

The boy and the woman were also said to be poorly but stable in Scarborough Hospital today.

The BMW driver, Lisa Burdett, 18, from Malton, escaped with minor injuries. Her passenger, Brian Jenkinson, 25, from Scarborough, was slightly injured. Both went to hospital in Scarborough.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "At the time of the crash it was raining heavily and the road was standing in water. We are investigating this as a possible contributory factor."

The A64 was closed for four hours and traffic chaos ensued as cars were diverted towards Yedingham and Driffield.

Stamford Bridge was particularly affected with westbound queues up to three miles long reported. The second crash happened on the A6108 between Leyburn and the junction for Bellerby, near Richmond.

Police said a Toyota Celica, heading from Leyburn, was hit by a Volkswagen Golf travelling the opposite way in "very heavy rain". "It appears the driver of the Golf has lost control of his vehicle and as a result has suffered fatal injuries," said a North Yorkshire Police spokesman. Only an hour later a motorcyclist died when a Yamaha machine crashed at Newthorpe railway bridge on the B1222 between Sherburn-in-Elmet and Newthorpe.

He was today named as John Richard Connell, 44, from Allerton Bywater, near Leeds.

Six people, including two children, needed hospital treatment after an accident on the A64 near Whitwell-on-the-Hill. Police said a Nissan Sunny, with two elderly occupants, pulled out of the Castle Howard junction into the path of an oncoming Ford Probe at about 2.30pm on Saturday. The elderly man suffered a head injury, which was not thought to be serious and the woman suffered chest pains caused by the seatbelt.

Both had to be cut free from the vehicle before being taken to York District Hospital. A man and woman and two children, who were travelling in the Ford Probe, were also taken to York District Hospital suffering minor injuries.

- Police today named a man killed in a collision with a van in Clifton Moorgate last Friday as Roderick Peter Kean, 40, from Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

Updated: 11:34 Monday, August 20, 2001