A man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was hit by a car on Saturday (January 21) evening.

The man, in his 30s, was walking along the A691 shortly after 7.30pm on Saturday when a red Nissan Qashqai collided with him.

It is believed the red Qashqai was travelling south towards Durham City when the incident occurred.

Read more: 'The heart of our family' - police reveal identity of suspected murder victim

Police and ambulance staff from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and Great North Air Ambulance rushed to the scene and the man was taken to the RVI in Newcastle with life-threatening injuries.

Officers closed the A691 between Lanchester and Kaysburn in County Durham and initially said the closure was due to a road traffic collision.

Early local reports suggested that a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle and that there was a heavy emergency service response in the area. The incident was listed as ‘serious’ on traffic systems.

The road was closed for around six hours into the early hours of Sunday (January 22) morning and opened just before 2.45am.

To get more stories direct to your email basket go here 

A NEAS spokesperson said: “We were called at 7.36pm on Saturday evening to a person injured on the A691, Durham Road. We dispatched two double crewed ambulances, a clinical team leader and requested support from the Great North Air Ambulance's rapid response car.

“One patient was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, accompanied by a doctor.

Officers are now keen to speak to anyone who witnessed the incident or may have dashcam footage of what happened.

A spokesperson for Durham Police added: “Please contact the Collision investigation unit on 101 quoting incident number 349 of January 21 with information.”

Read next:

If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to your Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here