MOTORISTS faced severe delays after a series of accidents on the A1 yesterday caused long tailbacks.

Problems started when a lorry had a tyre blow-out on the southbound carriageway near Londonderry, in North Yorkshire, careering into the central reservation, just after 6am.

Minutes later, a car towing a caravan tipped onto its side on the hard shoulder.

No one was hurt in either accident, but repairs to the central reservation and a diesel spillage on the road meant the outside lane was closed all day.

Then, just before 10am on the northbound carriageway, a lorry and a van towing a caravan collided near Quernhow, also in North Yorkshire.

One man was taken to the Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, suffering from facial injuries.

Police said the road was cleared by about 12.30pm - but just before 1pm a truck and a Ford Mondeo collided on the southbound A1 at Burneston, near Bedale, damaging a 15m-stretch of the crash barrier.

No one was hurt in the accident, but police said the combined effects of all four crashes had caused considerable problems on the A1, with tailbacks stretching back several miles in both directions at one point.