Leeds nostalgia: Cars crash on ice...

The incidents happened within 15 minutes of one another near the junction of York Road and Selby Road, close to the railway bridge.

The Vauxhall (on the right) skidded on a patch of ice under the bridge and overturned but neither Mr H Ashworth, of Whitkirk, who was driving, nor his son was hurt. The report added: “The body work was buckled but none of the windows were cracked.”

Meanwhile, the Ford was driven by Mary Tomlinson, of Colton, and she was also unhurt.

Yorkshire was covered in a blanket of snow and a blizzard was reported to be affecting the Pennines, with snowfall up to three inches in places. The Meteorological Office, however, was predicting warmer weather.

In other news, the Archbishop of York, Dr Cyril Garbett called for a reduction in the number of hereditary peers in the House of Lords. Addressing York Rotary Club. He said its strength lay in the freedoms it had to debate almost anything rather than as a check on legislation from the Commons. But he said it was clear the Upper House must be reformed.

He said: “First, there must be a great reduction in the number of hereditary peers... the present position is indefensible but in practice the results are not so serious when it is remembered that out of 850 members there are, as a rule, only some 50, mostly men of great experience and judgement, who attend.”

He suggested the Upper House move to a system whereby peers were directly elected, with others appointed by the Crown.