OVERNIGHT icy conditions and roadworks combined to pose problems for North-East commuters today (Monday January 28).

Motorists were warned to beware of patches of ice which developed after temperatures plummeted overnight.

It led to a number of accidents, plus several minor bumps and shunts on roads across the region.

A stretch of the A19 dual carriageway was closed, southbound, between the Doxford interchange, near Sunderland, and Seaham.

It followed a multiple vehicle accident on the southbound carriageway, under the Doxford interchange, the junction of the A19 and A690.

Queues of traffic rapidly developed back northwards of the A19 and on the A690 as emergency services attended the stricken motorists and vehicles.

Diversions were put in place via the A690, the B1404 and the B1285.

There was a further accident, involving two vehicles, several miles south, on the A1018 slip road onto the A19, near Seaham, shortly after 6am.

It caused a closure of the A1018 from Seaham Grange roundabout onto the A19 for about two hours.

A female motorist was cut from one of the vehicles and taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital.

Temporary roadworks on the A693, east of Stanley, County Durham, brought rush-hour stand-stills as traffic tailed back to Asda roundabout in Stanley.

Other problems, mostly ice-related, were reported on the A68, between Castleside and Tow Law, on the A691, near Lanchester Road Hospital, at Trout’s Lane, west of Durham, on the A167, near the Honest Lawyer, at Sunderland Bridge, between Durham and Croxdale.

A Durham Police spokeswoman warned motorists about “hazardous road conditions” throughout the force area.

“All areas of the county were affected by ice on road surfaces as temperatures plummeted overnight, making early morning driving conditions difficult.”

Motorists were advised to “exercise caution” making journeys in the county.

The county council was said to have gritted road surfaces and was continuing to work right through the morning rush-hour.