A BUS skidded into the end of an occupied house as black ice caught motorists unaware off principal routes in County Durham today.

It led to police issuing a call to motorists to take "extreme care" while travelling on potentially slippery side roads.

While main A and B-class roads were gritted and most were described as "passable", overnight rain which froze created black ice on many side roads, making driving conditions "treacherous" in some areas.

Temporary Superintendent Andy Huddleston, head of strategic roads policing with Durham Police, said the problems affected the entire county and Darlington areas.

Despite the gritting a stretch of the A692, the main road from Tyneside to north-west Durham, was closed due to black ice on the Busty Bank, near Burnopfield.

Supt Huddleston said there were reports of numerous accidents, most minor, but among them a bus collided with a house in High Etherley, in the Wear Valley, and another bus struck parked cars in Dipton, near Stanley.

A family was in the house in Stobarts Court, near the Dog and Gun pub in High Etherley, when the single-deck Arriva bus lost control in icy conditions and became embedded in the end wall shortly before 8am.

Police said it led to minor structural damage and a young male passenger on the bus suffered minor cuts and bruises, but there were no other reported injuries.

A spokesman for Arriva said the 86 service appears to have skidded on black ice causing the collision.

"That seems to have been the cause, but it's too early to confirm a lot more about the circumstances at the moment.

"We're aware that a young boy suffered what are believed to have been head injuries of some description and other passengers were seen at the scene by the emergency services.

"Our own people and structural engineers are now looking at how we're going to get the bus out."

In other accidents another Arriva bus skidded on black ice and collided with two parked cars near the Red Lion pub in Dipton, shortly after a lorry lost control and struck a lamp post.

An elderly male pedestrian was also treated by passers-by and then ambulance personnel after falling in nearby Annfield Plain.

Supt Huddleston said none of the accidents was said to have caused serious injury, but his resources were stretched force-wide.

He even attended a problem himself, in the Cornsay area, between Langley Park and Lanchester, where a driver abandoned his vehicle in icy conditions and it skidded away, ending in a snowdrift.

"It's reached the point where demand is almost out-stripping supply in us being able to respond to all the incidents.

"Thankfully most are relatively minor, but it's the sheer number of them."

Snow was still said to be causing problems in some outlying roads and the A66 remained closed west of Bowes, on the cross-Pennine road.

Supt Huddleston said a car tried to beat the snow barriers to get across but had to be dug out due to the conditions.

"Up on the tops it's still extremely difficult and I don't think people coming from lower ground realise things are still treacherous on the A66 and on higher ground, as we've seen particularly in the Derwentside area.