A vehicle fire on a major County Durham road caused tailbacks on the morning commute this morning - with traffic still slow as flow recommences. 

Traffic to a standstill through Bowburn, near Durham, after a car caught fire shortly after 8.30 am. The road was shut between J60 A689 (Bradbury) and J62 A690 (Carrville).

This allowed firefighters from County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service to quickly extinguish the blaze. 

Despite the quick response from emergency services, traffic stopped moving, and is yet to fully recover. Delays of 15 minutes are expected through Bowburn for the rest of the morning. 

Read more: LIVE: Vehicle fire on the A1(M) between J60 and J61

Currently, we do not know the status of the car's occupants. 

Damage to the vehicle was extensive and National Highways have advised that their contractors and traffic officers are currently on the scene to survey the state of the road following the incident. 

A National Highways spokesperson said: "Traffic officers are on scene, and contractors are en route to inspect the damage to the carriageway.

For more quality journalism, you can subscribe to The Northern Echo here.

"County Durham and Darlington Firefighters have extinguished the vehicle and left the scene. 

"Traffic Officers have arranged recovery for the burnt-out car and reopened all of the anes.

"There are residual delays of 15 minutes on the approach."