FIVE people have been taken to hospital after a car crashed into an ambulance as it attended the scene of a road accident.

The collision happened at 7.27am this morning (Sunday, Nov 4) when a car left the road and hit a lamppost on the eastbound carriageway of the A1231 just before the Barmston turn-off in Washington.

A second car then hit an ambulance which had stopped at the scene.

Four people were taken to Sunderland Royal Infirmary and one person taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.

Police and fire service attended the incident and the road has been closed between the A182 and A195 junctions and is expected to be closed for several hours.

Anyone with information should call Northumbria Police on the non-emergency number, 101 ext 69191