A busy County Durham road has reopened following a two-vehicle crash which caused one lane to close and severe delays.

One person was taken to University Hospital of North Durham following a crash on the A1(M) Northbound after J61 A688 Tursdale Road (Bowburn) this afternoon (February 24).

Durham Police received reports of the crash, which involved a Fiat Doblo and Renault Arkana, at 3:30pm.

Police have said no one is believed to have been injured in the incident.

Read more: Bowburn A1(M) Crash Live: Lane reopens after crash between Fiat and Renault

An NEAS spokesperson said: "We received a call at 15:28 to a road traffic collision on the A1 north near Bowburn. 

"We sent one emergency ambulance and took one patient to University Hospital of North Durham."

Meanwhile, a Durham Police spokesperson said: "We were called at around 3.30pm to reports of a two-vehicle collision on the A1(M) Northbound at Junction 61.

"The incident involved a Fiat Doblo and a Renault Arkana.

"It is not believed anyone was injured.

"Highways England closed the road whilst the vehicles were recovered."

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This comes after the incident caused the A1(M) Northbound to close this afternoon, with severe delays and long queues of traffic.

Adding to this, traffic was queued as far back as five miles while Highways England recovered the vehicles.

Due to this, there were delays of more than 30 minutes on the A1(M) Northbound between J60 A689 (Bradbury) and J62 A690 (Carrville), and delays of seven minutes on the A1(M) Southbound between J62 A690 (Carrville) and J61 A688 Tursdale Road (Bowburn).

Speaking earlier today, a Durham Police spokesperson warned motorists to avoid the area.

They said: "Police are dealing with a road traffic collision between J61 Bowburn and J62 Durham on the A1 northbound.

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"Traffic is down to one lane whilst waiting for recovery, the traffic will be backed up in the area for some time."

According to AA traffic maps, the A1(M) Northbound has now been cleared and traffic has returned to normal.