POLICE are hoping to trace witnesses to an incident which left a horse rider suffering from potentially life-changing injuries.

The 45-year-old woman from Low Pittington, east of Durham City, was riding her horse with a friend, who was riding another horse, when the incident happened between 11am and noon on Sunday, January 24, on Coalford Lane, near Pittington.

As the two women approached a junction with a single-lane track leading to Coalford Lane Farm, they waited for a car to leave the track and turn onto the main road.

At that point a second car, described as blue, possibly a hatchback, pulled up behind the riders on Coalford Lane.

As the first drove away, the second accelerated, causing the two horses to bolt.

Although both riders managed to get the animals under control, one of the horses then bolted a second time, throwing the rider to the ground.

The Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA) and paramedics were rushed to the scene and the woman was anaesthetised and flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough by GNAA helicopter.

At the time, the incident was dealt with by the ambulance service only. But at the weekend, the woman’s sister called the police to report it officially.

Durham Police are now investigating and want to trace either of the drivers, in case they have information that could help their enquiries.

PC Ian Cousins, from the force’s road policing unit, said: “We would like to speak to the drivers purely as witnesses, there is no suggestion they have collided with either horse or driven in an irresponsible manner.

“The victim has been left with potentially life-changing injuries and remains in a serious condition.”

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Durham Police on the non-emergency number, 101.

Two days after the incident, Emma Donaldson, a 42-year-old wife and mother from Littletown who was deputy head teacher at The Woodlands School in Ferryhill, was hit by a car while walking her dog nearby. She died in hospital two days later.