POLICE are appealing for witnesses to two separate road accidents which left two people dead.

Simon Smith, 22, from the Helmsley area of North Yorkshire, was killed in the early hours of yesterday in a crash at Nawton, on the A170 Helmsley to Kirkbymoorside road.

Mr Smith was driving a green Rover 214 towards Kirkbymoorside when he crossed the carriageway on a left-hand bend and hit a wall. No other vehicle was involved in the accident.

Police also appealed for information about a crash in which a 59-year-old woman was killed.

Joan Hindmarch, of Shildon, County Durham, died when her Toyota Corina was badly damaged in a collision with a bus on Friday.

The car and the Volvo 57 single-deck coach collided at the Windlestone Lane junction, on the A689 near Rushyford, County Durham, at 5.25pm.

The coach driver, a 33-year-old man from Bishop Auckland, sustained whiplash injuries and shock and was treated at the town's hospital for a minor head injury.

Although a number of people were travelling on the bus, only one passenger, a 17-year-old girl from Spennymoor, needed treatment at the same hospital for minor head injuries.

Accident investigators, who closed the road for four hours to carry out inquiries, are appealing for witnesses to the crash. The particularly want to trace the driver of a small black car that pulled out of Windlestone Lane on to the A689, just before the accident.

Anyone with information is asked to call Durham Police accident unit on 0191-375 2159.

Anyone who witnessed the Nawton incident, or saw the car being driven prior to the accident, is asked to call police on (01723) 509662.