Two people die as car hits tree in Ben Rhydding (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Two people die as car hits tree in Ben Rhydding

7:00am Saturday 23rd March 2013 in News By Jim Jack

People in Ilkley has been left shocked by a double-death road tragedy.

A man and woman, both believed to be from the town, died when the car they were passengers hit a tree and went into a ditch on Denton Road, Ben Rhydding, early yesterday.

Police received a call from the 37-year-old male driver, also thought to be from Ilkley, at about 3.30am saying that his Hyundai Coupe had been in an accident but he did not know where he was.

Officers discovered the vehicle at 4am and found a 35-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man dead at the scene. They had been passengers in the front and back-seat. The car had been travelling away from Ilkley centre towards Otley, and crashed on a stretch of road following a right-hand bend past the swimming pool and Olicanian Cricket Club, near the iron footbridge.

Councillor Mike Gibbons (Con, Ilkley), who is also the vice-chairman of Ilkley Parish Council, said: “This is a terrible tragedy for all those involved and their family and friends.

“Denton Road is a road where care needs to be taken, particularly at night and in cold, wintry conditions.

“My sympathies go out to all those involved.”

Debris was strewn by the road next to a scarred tree, where a water ditch runs close by.

Police investigations into the crash are continuing while the driver last night remained in Leeds General Infirmary being treated for cuts and potential internal injuries.

Any witnesses or anyone with information about the incident should contact the Major Collision and Enquiry Team on the non-emergency number 101. Denton Road, a winding rural route, has been the scene of several serious accidents in recent years.

In March, 2012, a Silsden man was trapped in his car for hours as firefighters struggled to free him after his Alfa Romeo had hit a tree at the road’s junction with Carters Lane.

In January of the same year another man was seriously injured in an early morning, two-car smash on the road.

Two other cars also crashed, going through a fence as they tried to avoid the accident.

And in February, 2009, a 20-year-old man needed hospital treatment after his car spun off the road, at Middleton, and plunged into the River Wharfe.