The A59 between Skipton and Harrogate was closed for six hours today after a serious accident at Blubberhouses.

It was shut off from the Bolton Abbey Roundabout to Kexgill at about 9am following a collision between two cars.

North Yorkshire Police reported that the road was reopened at 3pm.

A man and a woman were taken to hospital with spinal injuries after both had to be cut free from the wreckage.

The male driver of one vehicle was freed by firefighters using hydraulic cutting gear. He was taken to hospital by air ambulance.

The injured woman, a passenger in the second car, was also freed by the fire service and taken by road to hospital.