A man in his 30s died after a blue Vauxhall Corsa collided with a tree on Bridge Road, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Police are appealing for anyone who may have seen the crash or the way in which the car was being driven beforehand to come forward.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said that two ambulances and an ambulance officer were sent to the scene after the alarm was raised just before 5.30am.

'One person was treated but despite the best efforts of everyone involved he was pronounced dead at the scene,' he added.

The road was closed for more than six hours as police carried out preliminary investigations, cleared debris and waited for the car to be removed for further examination.

Traffic including school buses was diverted via The Street through nearby Little Ryburgh.

The collision happened on a hill close to the junction of Bridge Road and the main A1067 Fakenham to Norwich road.

The car is believed to have been travelling away from the junction, down the hill towards Great Ryburgh, when it occurred.

While there have been a number of minor accidents on the single carriageway road over the winter months, the surface was dry and the temperature above freezing at the time of the crash.

Parish councillors heard there had been an increase in vehicles speeding through the village at a meeting last month, but it is not yet clear whether speed played a part in yesterday's accident, which happened around a mile from the centre of Great Ryburgh on a stretch where the limit is 60mph .

The man who died has not yet been named. Witnesses should contact PC David Reed at Swaffham roads policing on 101.