Police have explained why the A19 was partly closed on Monday (July 3) morning after reports that there were two-mile tailbacks on the major A-road.

Motorists travelling on the major road towards Sunderland may have noticed that their journey time increased between the A690 and the A183.

Read more: LIVE: A19 partly closed at Durham Road after three car crash

Videos and pictures emerged this morning of large queues of cars and lorries, which saw vehicles travelling at 10mph toward Sunderland on the Northbound carriageway.

A tweet from North East Live Traffic shows the extent of the tailbacks:

After a lane closure of around an hour, Northumbria Police have now confirmed details of the congestion. 

The police force has said that a collision, believed to be a three-car incident, caused the queues - but the road has now reopened.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “At 7.30am today (Monday) we received a report of a collision on the A19 northbound between the A690 and A183 near Sunderland.

“Thankfully nobody was injured and traffic is now flowing freely.”