AN elderly man was seriously injured last night when his car was in an accident as it crossed the A66 during the rush-hour.

The accident happened just after 5pm at the central reservation crossing for the village of Long Newton, near Stockton.

It is thought the man and a woman in the Fiesta, who were travelling from Durham Tees Valley Airport, were crossing the A66 to make their way towards the Middlesbrough area.

As the car crossed the busy road it was in collision with a van travelling westbound.

Firefighters from Stockton and Thornaby and an emergency tender were called to the scene as well as two ambulances.

The man, who has not been named by emergency services, was trapped for 40 minutes and firefighters had to cut the roof off the car to rescue him.

The woman also had to be cut from the wreckage.

A spokeswoman for the Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance service said the man was taken to North Tees Hospital, in Stockton, with multiple injuries.

It was unclear last night what his condition was or what injuries the woman sustained.

The van driver escaped major injuries and was able to walk away from his vehicle.

The rush-hour crash blocked the westbound lane of the notorious A66 on the edge of Teesside for a number of hours.

The stretch of road, dubbed "death mile" by local residents, has been the scene of various accidents at the central reservation crossing in recent years.

The road was closed by Cleveland Police accident investigators after the accident and traffic was diverted through Long Newton and on to the airport bypass.

A1(M) chaos - Page 14