One person is tonight in hospital after a two-car crash which closed the A689 in Hartlepool.

The two vehicles, a car and a van according to local reports, collided on the busy A-road just after 4.30pm today (Thursday, October 31), between the Stag & Monkey pub and Tesco.

Emergency crews rushed to the scene and firefighters had to cut a person free from a vehicle.

Paramedics took one person to University Hospital North Tees. Their condition is not yet known.

A Cleveland Fire Brigade spokesperson said: "The call came in at 4.48pm. We have come away now but we did have two fire engines at the scene - one from Hartlepool and one from Billingham.

"It was a two car road traffic collision and we extricated one person from a vehicle."

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The road reopened at about 7.15pm.

An ambulance service spokesperson added: “We were called to a road traffic collision this evening (October 31) on A689 in Hartlepool, shortly after 4.30pm. We dispatched one ambulance crew and one patient was taken to North Tees hospital.”

Cleveland Police has been contacted for comment.