POLICE are urgently trying to trace family members of a driver who died in a collision with a bus on Thursday.

The 60-year-old man from the Hartlepool area, who has not been named, was travelling west in a silver Citroen c4, on the B1280 at Sheraton, near Hartlepool, when his car collided with a single-decker bus at about 5.35pm, just 500m from the A19 flyover.

A spokesman for Durham Police, said: “Both vehicles were heading west with the car ahead of the Arriva bus.

"It is thought the car driver carried out a U-turn in front of the bus which resulted in the vehicles colliding heavily with each other.

“As a result the driver suffered serious injuries and was taken by air ambulance to James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) in Middlesbrough where a short time later he died from his injuries.

“The bus driver, a man in his 50s from Crook was not seriously injured. There were several passengers on board but none were seriously hurt.”

The road was closed to traffic until 11pm last night.

Nick Knox, area managing director for Arriva North-East, added: “Our thoughts are with the driver’s family at this very sad time.”

Any witnesses are asked to call the force’s collision investigation unit by calling 0191-3752159.

Police are also trying to trace family members of the victim, who is believed to be a former driving instructor and had been working as a landscape gardener in the Teesside area.