A person has been taken to hospital after a multi-vehicle crash closed the A1 southbound in County Durham for two-and-a-half hours.
Emergency services were called to the four-vehicle crash shortly after 12.30pm on Friday on the A1(M) southbound between junction 63 on the A167 at Chester-le-Street and junction 62 on the A690 at Carrville.
Durham Constabulary closed the southbound carriageway while emergency services were on the scene before the road reopened shortly before 3pm.
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A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary said: "Officers are currently on scene at a collision on the A1(M) between J62 Durham and J63 Chester-le-Street.
"The incident took place at around noon and involved four vehicles.
"The southbound carriageway is expected to remain closed for a short period while emergency services deal with the incident."
The North East Ambulance Service said it dispatched one ambulance crew and a crew from its Hazardous Area Response Team while one person was taken to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary.
A spokesperson for the North East Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 12.37pm to reports of a road traffic collision on the A1 southbound near Chester-le-Street.
"We dispatched one ambulance crew and a crew from our Hazardous Area Response Team, and transported one patient to the RVI."
Initial reports suggested one of the vehicles involved had caught fire, but the fire service said this was not the case.
Crews from Durham, High Handenhold, and Spennymoor attended the scene and used cutting equipment to free a woman from a car.
A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service said: "We received a call into the control room at 12.38pm with reports of a multi-vehicle collision on the southbound carriageway of the A1 between junction 63 and 62.
"Three crews from Durham, High Handenhold, and Spennymoor attended the scene. On arrival the crews found no vehicles to be on fire.
"They worked with NEAS colleagues to extricate one female from a car using Holmatro cutting equipment. The crews left the scene around 2.10pm."
