A lorry driver died in North Yorkshire today after apparently having been taken ill at the wheel and careering off the road on the outskirts of York.

The middle-aged driver of a flatbed lorry with the Jewson's company name on it was pronounced dead at York District Hospital, having been taken there after the crash which happened at around 8.22am.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service were called to the scene on the A59, about 100 yards after the turn off from the York outer ring road, near the Wyevale Garden Centre.

The lorry is understood to have crossed the opposite carriageway and crashed through a hedge on the opposite side of the road from the garden centre.

No other vehicles were involved.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said the driver, who had been travelling towards Harrogate with a load of rubble and plastic pipes, appeared to have been taken ill at the wheel.

The HGV demolished a road sign as it left the carriageway.

The man has not been named, as relatives have not yet been informed.

Police accident investigators were today at the scene and traffic was disrupted.