Two casualties freed from cars and rushed to hospital following A19 collision near Hartlepool

The A19 was closed for at least five hours in both directions following the crash near the A179 Hartlepool turn-off on Monday, August 14, just before 9.20pm.

Three Cleveland Fire Brigade engines and one from Durham attended what Cleveland Police described as a “serious collision”.

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said in a statement on Tuesday: “We received a call at 21.18 last night to reports of two cars involved in a collision on the southbound A19 near Sheraton Bank.

"We dispatched a doctor, three paramedic ambulance crews, two hazardous area response team crews (HART) and a clinical team leader.

“Working closely with police and fire service colleagues we treated two patients, both of whom had been trapped in their own vehicles.

"Both patients were taken to James Cook Hospital, one with a suspected fractured pelvis and the other with suspected broken leg.”