A motorist has died after the car he was driving fell from cliffs on the South Shields coast.

Emergency services were called at around 11.45pm on Thursday after a vehicle left the A183 Coast Road at Marsden in South Shields.

For reasons yet to be established, the vehicle continued over the grassed area adjacent to the road and fell from the cliffs.

Emergency services attended the scene and located the vehicle.

However, the driver was found to have sustained serious injuries and was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.

An investigation into the full circumstances of the man's death has been launched and officers are now asking anybody with information that may assist their enquiries to get in touch.

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Sergeant Stephen Scorer, of Northumbria Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “This is a tragic incident in which a man has sadly lost his life.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this extremely difficult time.

“We’re doing everything we can to try to understand what happened in the moments leading up to the vehicle leaving the road.

“If anyone has any information which they think will help in our enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.”

Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact Northumbria Police via the ‘Report’ page of the Force website, or by calling 101 quoting reference NP-20240606-1290.