A motorcyclist has been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries following a crash near Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, today. 

Emergency services were alerted to the collision on Stanhope Road, near Middleton in Teesdale, at about 10.40am on Wednesday, July 24.

Police, multiple ambulance vehicles and the Great North Air Ambulance were dispatched to the scene, as the road was closed in both directions. 

A motorbike rider was treated at the scene by a specialist paramedics and an air ambulance doctor, before being airlifted with serious injuries to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. 

A Durham Police spokesperson said: "Police are appealing for witnesses following a two-vehicle collision on Stanhope Road, in Middleton-in-Teasdale.

"The incident between a van and a motorbike happened shortly after 11am this morning (Wednesday, July 24).

"The rider of the motorbike was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, with serious injuries.

"The driver of the van was uninjured. The road remains closed while collision investigators are at the scene."

“A spokesman for the Great North Air Ambulance Service charity said: “We were activated at 11:30am to reports of a road traffic collision neat Middleton-in-Teesdale.

"We sent one air ambulance helicopter with a doctor and paramedic critical care team on board. The flight from our base in Langwathby to the scene took just 19 minutes.

“We worked alongside North East Ambulance Service treating an adult patient before we flew them to the RVI Hospital in Newcastle. The flight from scene to hospital took 19 minutes.”

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A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "On Wednesday 24 July, we were called to a road traffic incident on Stanhope Road in Middleton-in-Teesdale at 10:37am.

"We dispatched a specialist paramedic, a clinical team leader, one ambulance crew, and requested support from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS). One patient was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary by air."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting incident reference 152 of July 24.