Double crash after thieves dump van

The crash happened just before 6am and blocked the A171 between Guisborough, Teesside, and Whitby, North Yorkshire, at Scaling Dam.

Police said a National Express coach driver was trapped and was rescued unhurt from his vehicle by firefighters.

The coach, heading towards Whitby, was not carrying any passengers.

The milk tanker driver, heading the other way, suffered a facial injury but was not believed to be badly hurt.

A stolen VW camper van, dumped by the side of the road, was not occupied, North Yorkshire Police said. Anyone who saw it being abandoned was asked to call police in Whitby on 101.

Meanwhile a young amateur footballer is fighting for his life after a horror smash on New Year’s Day that left a car hanging from a tree. The driver, named locally as Gareth Knight, remains in a critical condition at Leeds General Infirmary.

The 27-year-old from east Leeds was cut out of the vehicle by firefighters at around 9.40am on Tuesday, January 1. A 28-year-old passenger also suffered serious injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening and is being treated at the same Leeds hospital.

Mr Knight is believed to have played for Sporting Armley Football Club and now plays for Barwick FC.

Barwick FC manager Simon Yaffe said: “It was just mortifying when I saw the picture. I have had a message from his partner and he is apparently coming round now.”

According to police, the car smashed into a lamp-post before hitting a tree.

Another New Year’s Day crash happened on Leeds ring road near Makro in Lower Wortley just before 3.30pm on January 1, leaving three men in hospital.