A woman died today after suffering serious head injuries in a crash on the increasingly notorious A64 outside York.

Margaret Green, of Haytonwood View, Aberford, near Leeds, was rushed to York District Hospital after her Vauxhall Astra was in collision with a lorry on the A64 York to Tadcaster road at Colton Lane End at around 6.30pm yesterday.

A police spokesman confirmed today Mrs Green had died of her injuries.

It is the second death in as many months on the same stretch of road. Last month Yvonne Barwick, 50, of Bolton Percy, was killed when her Peugeot 205 was in collision with a Golf car.

The latest accident is likely to fuel increasing pressure from local protesters to seal up access points in the central reservation, blamed for the series of smashes which have dogged the stretch of dual carriageway.

Traffic Constable David Brown, traffic management officer for Selby and Tadcaster Police, leading a campaign to seal up the gaps, said the situation had worsened during the past three years with more than 30 accidents on a 150-yard stretch of road.

He said the police wanted all the gaps in the central reservation to be closed, from the Tadcaster roundabout to the Copmanthorpe flyover, and would be telling the Highways Agency this at a top-level meeting in March organised by Selby MP John Grogan.

The Highways Agency had come up with proposals which would see a ban on motorists turning right out of Colton Lane, he said, but they would still be able to turn right into Colton Lane from the A64.

"We believe this would shift the onus on to the police in enforcing the ban and it does not go far enough. Our priority is safety," he said.

A police spokeswoman said last night's crash happened after the lorry, from Darlington, had turned right out of Colton Lane End to head for York. She said it was waiting in the middle of the carriageway with its tail hanging over the west-bound carriageway, when it was in collision with the blue Astra heading along the fast lane.

Police managed to keep traffic flowing at the scene of the crash by keeping one lane in each direction of the A64 open.

Officers are now hoping to speak to drivers who may have witnessed the incident - in particular one motorist who skidded to avoid the collision.

Anyone with information should call TC Andrew Palchett at Selby police station on 01757 702596.

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