A DRIVER is recovering after being knocked down while he was talking to police, following an earlier road collision.

Thomas Langford, 49, of Dunston, Gateshead, was pinned to the central reservation of the A1 Western Bypass after a car failed to notice the accident scene and struck him.

Police were called to the accident scene at 11.15pm on Sunday on the A1 northbound, near the Coalhouse roundabout.

While Mr Langford, the driver of a Citroen Saxo, was out of his car talking to police, a Vauxhall Corsa, driven by a 22-year-old man from Cramlington, drove through the scene. The officer jumped out of the way but was struck on his right arm.

Mr Langford was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, where he was yesterday undergoing surgery for a broken ankle, a broken elbow, broken toes and a minor head wound.