THE mother of a driver who was injured in a head-on collision with a police patrol car has denied her son is a boy racer.

Machine operator Nicholas Robson, 26, from Lilac Court, Shildon, County Durham, was left shocked and bruised when his Rover 25 collided with a Durham Constabulary BMW vehicle on the A689 near Bishop Auckland on Wednesday night.

He was trapped in the car wreckage for up to 30 minutes until police and an ambulance crews managed to free him through the passenger door.

The stretch of road across the Bishop Auckland viaduct, which bypasses the village of Toronto, is a notorious speed track, but Mr Robson's mother, Biddy Robson, is angry at any suggestion that he might have been racing at the time of the accident.

She said: "My son is no boy racer. He was in traffic, he braked and his brakes locked up. He could not avoid the BMW, which was coming towards him.

"It was very wet and the road was greasy. He could not do a thing to stop it happening."

Mr Robson and the police driver, who has not been named, were taken to hospital for check-ups, but were both well enough to be allowed home a few hours after the accident.

The road was closed and traffic diverted through Toronto.

Mrs Robson said: "Nobody's names have been mentioned but my son's friends all know he was involved and I don't want anybody to think he was racing."

Police have appealed for witnesses to the collision, which happened at 8pm. A spokesman said yesterday that inquiries were still at an early stage and the cause had not yet been established.

Sgt John Wesencraft, of Durham Police operation department, has urged anyone who saw the accident to contact him on 0191-386 4929.