A BABY girl, who was among five members of the same family involved in a Christmas Day car crash, has been described as "recovering well" from her injuries.

The six-month-old suffered serious head injuries after the car she was travelling in left the A66, near Barnard Castle, and collided with a large coping stone on the grass verge, at 7.10pm last Wednesday.

She was initially taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital but transferred to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) with a suspected fractured skull.

The infant was said to be improving on Monday and, although she remains in hospital, her condition is no longer considered to be serious and she is continuing her recovery on a normal ward.

Her 20-year-old mother, who was cut free from the front passenger seat of the vehicle and treated for serious abdominal injuries, is also recovering well and staying with the baby in the RVI.

The vehicle’s three other occupants - a 60-year-old man, from Redcar, a 42-year-old woman, from Dumfries, in Scotland, and a 33-year-old man – all escaped the accident with relatively minor injuries.

The younger man, who was driving the car and is believed to be the baby girl’s father, suffered a broken arm.

All five people are thought to be from the same family, based in the Middlesbrough area.

Durham Police are continuing their investigations into the accident, which happened at the Greta Bridge slip road, in County Durham, while the red Suzuki Alto was travelling eastbound on the A66.

No other vehicles are thought to have been involved in the accident.

Any witnesses to the crash are asked to call Durham Police on 101 and quote the incident number 201-25/12/2013.