A MAN accused of stealing a car and causing a three-vehicle crash after driving the wrong way along the A64 has appeared in court.

James Ramsden faces eight charges after being arrested on Tuesday following the collision on a stretch of the route near Grimston Bar, which led to traffic chaos across the city.

The 25-year-old, of Upper Barker Street, Liversedge, West Yorkshire, was taken to York Hospital under police guard, having suffered two broken ankles and a punctured lung when the Vauxhall Insignia crashed.

His injuries meant he was unable to appear in the courtroom at York Magistrates’ Court today and the hearing was instead held in the building’s custody area.

Ramsden is accused of dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified, failing to stop for police, burglary, assault, theft of a motor vehicle and criminal damage.

He has yet to enter a plea to any of the charges and was remanded in custody. He will appear before magistrates in York via a video link on August 18.

Another man involved in the collision, who was driving a Toyota Avensis, is still being treated in hospital. The crash happened at about 11.15am on Tuesday but the A64 was not fully reopened until six hours later.