A PARAMEDIC had a lucky escape after his ambulance car skidded off the road on black ice - while he was on call to a road accident.

The paramedic, driving a 4x4, had gone to attend a head-on crash between a Ford Mondeo and a Vauxhall Astra in Broad Lane, near Appleton Roebuck, shortly before 8am today.

The vehicle left the road on a bend and ended up in a ditch.

The driver was unhurt, but was later taken to York Hospital suffering from shock.

Two ambulances also attended the scene, and took the drivers of the two cars involved in the head-on smash to York Hospital, where one received treatment for a shoulder injury.

Mike Shanahan, who was in one of the ambulances attending the scene, said: "This is a pretty exposed spot, and although you could see the gritters had been out overnight the road had obviously thawed out at some point and refrozen.

"At this time of year people get caught out, and the main thing is that they take care out there."

Updated: 15:28 Monday, November 28, 2005