A MAN has been jailed for two years after a father and son were killed in a head-on car crash near Piercebridge.

And the Judge, sitting at Tesside Crown Court, has called for safety measures to be introduced at the accident blackspot, near Darlington.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Peter Fox, recommended better road markings and signs on the B6275 after sentencing Geoffrey Donnison for causing the deaths by dangerous driving of Martin Robinson, 45, and his son, David, 23, both from Gainford. near Darlington

During an earlier four-day trial, Donnison, 37, of Maudville, Consett, pleaded not guilty to two charges of causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty on both counts.

Stephen Ashurst, prosecuting, told the court how at dusk on November 26 last year, Donnison had been driving a Mercedes van on the B6275.

At the brow of a hill on the rural road, Donnison, he said, had overtaken another vehicle and collided head-on with a Ford Capri.

As a result of the collision, Martin Robinson died at the scene and David died in hospital four days later.

Stephen Duffield, defending Donnison, said he had admitted he had crossed hatched road markings but, in the fading light, believed he had passed the danger spot and that the road was clear.

He was a man of good character, said Mr Duffield, and there was no doubt of his remorse and sorrow and his recognition of the dreadful circumstances he had brought to the family of the deceased men.

Judge Fox sentenced Donnison to two years in prison and disqualified him from driving for four years.

He also recommended the introduction of clearer signs indicating the blind summit and new road markings.