EMERGENCY services endured a busy weekend as the Christmas party season combined with freezing temperatures and some treacherous conditions on the roads.

Investigations are under way into fatal crashes in Freckenham, near Mildenhall, on Friday night, and on the A11 near Attleborough yesterday morning.

Police, fire and ambulance services also reported a string of incidents, especially on Friday night, known as Black Friday because of the expected increase in 999 calls due to busiest Christmas party night of the year.

Police have not yet named the driver who died in the crash in Freckenham, which happened just before 11am on an unclassified road between Worlington and Isleham.

The car left a bridge and ploughed into a ditch, close to Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border. Fire crews freed the man from his car but he was later pronounced dead.

Yesterday morning, one person died after a crash involving three people on the A11 at Besthorpe at about 3.20am.

Emergency services were called to the south-bound carriageway following reports of a car on fire on the hard shoulder and another car had crashed into the central reservation.

Fire crews attended and the road was closed for investigations to be carried out and the road surface to be repaired.

There were reports of three serious crashes in north Essex in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A man was left trapped under his car after his red Ford Fiesta collided with a silver Toyota in East Mersea Road, West Mersea, at about 8am.

Firefighters helped to lift the vehicle off the man, who police said suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Other crashes saw woman cut out of her black Vauxhall Frontera after it crashed and landed on its side at about 8am in Mersea Road, Abberton, and a man in his 50s cut free from his green Ford Mondeo after it overturned in Manningtree Road, Dedham. It is not believed either suffered life-threatening injuries.

Suffolk Fire Service attended a number of incidents on Friday night and over the weekend, including a spate of crashes.

There were some snow showers across the region yesterday, with icy conditions in the morning and evening.

Forecasters said conditions would be icy again this morning, with a widespread frost across the region and the chance of some rain and sleet throughout the day. Temperatures will struggle up to 5-6C later in the day. It is expected to warm up later in the week, with temperatures as high as 11C.