Driver dies in motorway pursuit

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Police inspect the crash scene on the A1(M)

A motorist has died on a motorway in County Durham after his car was hit by a stolen vehicle as its driver attempted to evade police.

Officers were trying to bring the Mitsubishi to a "controlled halt" on the north-bound side of the A1(M) when it hit the central reservation.

The car flipped onto the south-bound carriageway and into the path of an oncoming Peugeot, killing its driver.

The male driver of the Mitsubishi suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been informed.

Police located the Mitsubishi, which had earlier been stolen from Chester-le-Street, after it was spotted on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate in Newton Aycliffe.

It was followed on the A167, then onto the northbound A1(M).

The pursuit was also being monitored by a police helicopter when the crash happened near the Bowburn Interchange at 0540 BST.

The crash has caused major traffic disruption

It left the Peugeot driver, who has not yet been identified, with serious injuries and he died at the scene.

A local man, who did not want to be named, said he was woken by the sound of the crash.

"I heard a loud bang and then the police helicopter overhead," he said.

"At first I thought it was a lorry going past my house, that's how loud it was."

He said the stretch of motorway where the crash happened had been the site of many accidents.

The A1(M) was closed in both directions for several hours, leading to major traffic disruption in the Durham area.