POLICE investigating a collision between a car and a horse have appealed to the driver of a red Audi to come forward.

The horse, which had thrown its rider while being ridden on the footpath, ran into Neasham Road, near the Darlington Arena, at 11am today (Friday, January 31) and collided with a Vauxhall Astra.

The rider, a woman in her 20s, was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, while the driver of the Astra, a man aged 79, and his passenger, a woman in her 70s, were also taken to hospital as a precaution suffering from shock.

The horse suffered minor injuries and is expected to make a full recovery.

Police are appealing for the driver of a red Audi, which was driving out of Darlington at the time of the incident, to come forward.

PC Ruth Barrett, from Durham Police’s roads policing unit, said: "We are appealing to the driver of a red Audi A3 to come forward as we believe this person may have vital information regarding the circumstances of the collision."

Anyone with information or witnesses to the collision are asked to call the roads policing unit on the non-emergency 101 number.