The 54-year-old man was travelling north in an unregistered Holden ute along Old Barraba Rd with a 32-year-old occupant.

At 4pm on Saturday afternoon, the ute veered off the road and struck a tree, about 200 metres south of Fossickers Way. 

The 54-year-old was ejected from the vehicle and died almost instantly.

Police have been unable to release the name of the deceased, but a string of heartfelt tributes to a man believed to be the crash victim were posted to The Leader’s Facebook page. 

The 32-year-old was rushed to Bingara hospital before being airlifted to Tamworth hospital by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

He suffered head and leg injuries, serious cuts and abrasions, and emergency crews feared he may have sustained a spinal injury. 

Meanwhile three people have been rushed to hospital after a head-on collision on the New England Highway yesterday afternoon. 

The accident left the occupants trapped in their vehicles and closed both lanes of traffic for several hours. 

The vehicles collided about 1km north of Wingen, between Scone and Murrurundi, just before 2pm. 

Emergency services and the crash investigation unit were called, and at 3pm two Westpac Rescue Helicopters were called in. 

The Tamworth-based helicopter took one male patient with multiple injuries to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. 

A male and female in the other vehicle were flown to the same hospital by the Newcastle-based chopper.