ONE person has been taken to hospital following a crash on the A19 involving multiple cars. 

The incident caused long traffic queues in the Castle Eden area of Hartlepool yesterday afternoon.

A spokesman for the North East Ambulance Service confirmed: "We got a call at 11.06am to a multiple road traffic collision on the A19, with incidents being reported on both the north and south carriageways.

"An ambulance and rapid response paramedic were able to attend to everyone on scene. We have taken one patient to North Tees Hospital with minor injuries."

The Northern Echo:

The red line on this AA Live Traffic map showed where the traffic was heaviest following the crash

At the time of the incident, a Durham Police spokesman said: "We are currently dealing with a number of RTCs (road traffic collisions) on the A19 near to Hutton Henry.

"Please try to avoid the area."

One witness said: “On the Southbound carriageway there was a car on the grass verge which looked in an awful state. Multiple other cars were parked on the verge and all had bumps.

“Police and a recovery truck were at the scene and cars were backed up to the A181 slip road.”

Traffic has now returned to normal and all lanes are back open.