A teenage cyclist has been hospitalised after a serious collision involving a car.

Emergency services were called after a collision between a pedal cycle and car in Washtingon, shortly after 8.10pm on Sunday.

It was reported that a red Vauxhall Corsa was travelling north from Glover Road onto Silverstone Road when, for reasons yet to be established, it was in a collision with the cyclist who was crossing from the underpass.

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The boy, aged 13, was taken to hospital with serious injuries and remains in a critical condition.

His next of kin are being supported by specialist officers.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and he remains in police custody at this time.

Officers have launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident and are appealing for witnesses to get in touch.

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Sergeant Ray Lowery, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is clearly a very serious incident that has resulted in a young boy being taken to hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

“The collision happened in a busy area and on a popular bus route. We are asking anybody who witnessed it to get in touch and assist our enquiries.

“We have spoken to a number of witnesses already, but in particular, we are looking to trace a man who was stood at a nearby bus stop and who later got on the Go North East number 56 bus.

"We believe he may have witnessed the incident and we would ask him to come forward and help us. We also understand that there may have been other passengers on the bus who might have saw what happened and I would encourage them to get in touch.

“We also want to hear from anybody who believes they saw a red Vauxhall Corsa travelling in the area at the time, as well as anyone who has any CCTV or dashcam footage that could assist the ongoing investigation.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of our website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20220814-1125.

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