THE Police Complaints' Authority (PCA) is investigating the death of a teenage motorist following a pursuit involving a patrol car.

Brian Kenneth Lynch's Renault Clio car ploughed into a wall on the B1284 in Hetton-le-Hole, Wearside, after he did not stop for police.

The 18-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 1.30am yesterday.

Mr Lynch, who was unemployed, was the eldest of four children and lived at home with his parents, Brian and Marie, in North Crescent, Easington, County Durham.

Police said that minutes before the accident, two uniformed constables were travelling in a marked Vauxhall Astra on a routine journey between Murton and South Hetton, in the east of the county.

As they approached a T-junction, they saw the Clio travelling without lights along the A182.

The officers activated their lights and followed the Clio which, although within the speed limit, did not stop.

About a mile-and-a-half along the A182, the Clio made a U-turn at a roundabout.

It then accelerated, causing the officers to lose sight of it.

A police spokesman said: "As they searched the area, they were flagged down by three pedestrians who had witnessed the accident.

"Details of the incident have been voluntarily referred by Durham Constabulary to the Police Complaints' Authority, which has agreed to supervise the police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident."

The involvement of the PCA is a routine procedure invoked by police across the country in such cases.

l In a separate incident, two people were injured when the car they were in was involved in a collision with a police patrol vehicle.

The car was involved in the accident with a Mercedes in Jesmond, Newcastle, at 1.40am on Saturday.

Firefighters cut open the roof and released the driver, a 20-year-old man from Ipswich.

The driver and a 21-year-old passenger were taken to hospital suffering back, head, shoulder and neck injuries..