Overview
- The collision happened around 8:10pm on December 28 on the A183 between Chester-le-Street and Bournmoor near White House Farm.
- A blue Mercedes and a Mazda were involved in a head-on crash that left both vehicles with extensive damage.
- Officers say the Mercedes driver fled the scene on foot despite injuries, prompting a search using a helicopter and a drone over nearby farmland.
- The Mazda driver, a man in his mid-40s, sustained serious internal injuries and a fractured rib and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
- At about 11pm, a man in his mid-20s presented at University Hospital of North Durham with cuts and grazes and was arrested, as police appealed for dashcam footage and for the driver of a vehicle possibly overtaken moments before the crash to come forward.