A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital after the car she was driving collided with an HGV.

The accident happened near the junction of Gilling West, Melsonby and Richmond on the A66 eastbound.

North Yorkshire Police said they were alerted to the crash at 2.25pm today (Wednesday, June 25).

The driver of the car, believed to be a woman in her 70s, was taken to hospital by air ambulance to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

She is believed to have suffered a stroke.

The driver of the HGV is thought to be uninjured.

A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Air Ambulance said: “We arrived on scene at about 2.30pm and transported the driver of the car to James Cook Hospital.

“Her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening."

Fire crews from Richmond,Colburn, Durham and Ripon helped the woman out of the car with help from the ambulance service.