Two major incidents on the A69 have heightened calls for road safety improvements.

The trunk road was closed in both directions for six hours on Tuesday, after a crash near Hexham involving a tanker truck and three other vehicles led to a fuel spillage.

Police said one person was taken to hospital following the incident, on the eastbound carriage at Coastley, at shortly after 7am. Officers said nobody was seriously injured.

In a separate incident at 2.20pm on Wednesday, a lorry overturned on the A69, east of the Bridge End roundabout at Hexham.

The Great North Air Ambulance was called to the scene, but was not required. The lorry driver was taken to hospital by road with injuries less serious than first thought.

The latest incidents on the A69 come just a month after two women were tragically killed in a four-car pile up at Melkridge near Haltwhistle.

There have long been calls from community leaders in north and east Cumbria - along with others in Northumbria - to upgrade the length of the road.

Members of Bardon Mill, Henshaw and Melkridge parish councils held an extraordinary meeting last Wednesday, following the tragedy at Melkridge, on September 3.

Councillor Stuart Furlong said: "We have wanted improvements on the A69 for two years. It's sad that it takes something like this to make things happen.

"We have to keep putting the pressure on. Every time there is an incident on the road - pressure. Even if it's a near miss - pressure."

At the meeting, councillors said reducing the existing 60mph on the trunk road to 40mph between Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle, would make a huge difference.

They also called for the road layout to be examined, after raising concerns over the confusing mix of two and three lane stretches of carriageway.

A Highways England spokesman said: "We will continue to monitor safety and take action where appropriate, as well as taking into account the findings of the inquest into the incident on September 3, once it has concluded."

The spokesman said a feasibility study over the safety of A69 junctions at Haydon Bridge and Haltwhistle is nearing completion.