POLICE have named a man who died after his car was in collision with a bus on a County Durham road.

Mark Nightingale, 38, of Albert Street, Shildon, was involved in the accident on Friday, at 10.25pm.

He was driving a black Audi A4 estate along the A6072 at Heighington, near Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, when he was involved in a collision with an Arriva bus.

The bus driver and three passengers were injured and taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital.

One passenger received serious head injuries, a second sustained minor cuts and bruises and the third has shoulder injuries.

The driver suffered chest pains, but none of the injuries are considered to be life threatening.

A Durham Police spokesman said: "A vehicle has gone under a bus and the driver of the vehicle has been pronounced dead at the scene.

"Some people on the bus have been seriously injured, but their injuries are not believed to be life threatening at this point.

"Two vehicles were involved, an Audi A4 estate vehicle, which received extensive damage to the entire vehicle and a 43-seater single decker passenger transport vehicle owned by Arriva, which sustained extensive damage to the front of the vehicle."

The road was closed while police accident investigators assessed the scene.

Inspector Kevin Blakey, of Durham Police, said: "The circumstances of the accident are still being explored."

The crash followed an earlier accident, at about 8.30pm, a mile away on the same stretch of road where a lorry tipped over, shedding its load.

Residents reported hearing a loud crash which they first thought might have been an explosion at the nearby Hydro Polymers chemical plant.

"I live about 100 meters away from the roundabout and the lorry tipped over on the other side of it," said one man.

"We saw the driver being helped from his cab, but looking at the mess it looked like it could have been a lot more serious."

Anyone who witnessed either crash is asked to call Durham Police on 0845-60-60-365.