A woman has died in a Christmas Day car crash on the A1(M).
North Yorkshire Police are investigating following the crash, which happened at 8.30pm on Christmas Day on the nortbound carriageway of the A1(M), between junction 57 at the A66(M) and junction 58 at Merrybent.
A white Ford Fiesta and a black Volkswagen Tiguan were both involved in the crash.
The passenger in the Ford Fiesta, a woman in her 80s from the Durham area, suffered serious injuries and died at the scene. The driver of the Ford, a man in his 80s also from Durham, was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Get all the latest and breaking North Yorkshire news straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter here.
Meanwhile, the driver of the Volkswagen, a man in his 20s from the Durham area, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has been released under investigation.
The police said: “A woman has died and a man has been arrested after a crash on the A1(M) on Christmas Day.
“We’re appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage of the incident, which happened shortly after 8.30pm yesterday on the northbound carriageway between J57 (A66(M) junction) and J58 (Merrybent).
“The collision involved a white Ford Fiesta and a black Volkswagen Tiguan.
“The passenger of the Ford fiesta, a woman in her eighties from the Durham area, suffered serious injuries and sadly died at the scene.
“The driver of the Ford Fiesta, a man in his eighties from the Durham area, was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
“The driver of the Volkswagen, a man in his twenties from the Durham area, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has been released under investigation to allow police to conduct further enquiries.
“We would like to thank the members of the public who assisted at the scene.”
The motorway was closed until 8am today, Boxing Day, to allow for a police investigation and for National Highways to inspect the road surface. It has since reopened in both directions with a lane closure still in place.
If you have any dashcam footage or information, contact police on 101 and selecting option one, or by emailing either mcit@northyorkshire.police.uk or jack.dodsworth@northyorkshire.police.uk. You can quote incident number 12240235160.