TRAFFIC chaos was caused on a busy Darlington road during rush hour as police were called to deal with violence following a crash.

Eyewitnesses saw the drama unfurl at around 4.15pm as a van and a 4x4 were involved in a chase along McMullen Road on Thursday.

They smashed into bollards and vehicles before coming to a grinding halt when the green Cherokee Jeep crashed into a Nissan Juke which impacted into an Arriva bus carrying several passengers.

Two men are believed to have got out of the 4x4 and the van and confronted each other brandishing weapons – a walking stick with a blade taped to the bottom and possibly a baseball bat or large knife.

Several police vehicles surrounded the scene outside Bristol Street Motors and Skoda Darlington while the vehicles were recovered from the scene.

One witness, who did not want to be named, said: "All I heard was a loud bang, I came out to see what had happened and I saw men with weapons confronting each other but they had gone before the police arrived."

Police have since confirmed that the two men had left the scene before emergency services arrived.

A Darlington Police spokeswoman said: "Officers were called at 4.15pm yesterday to a collision involving three vehicles near the car dealerships on McMullen Road, Darlington.

"It is believed a Jeep 4x4 had driven along a cycle path adjacent to the road before colliding with a Nissan Juke, which then hit an Arriva bus.

"Two men then left the Jeep and ran off towards the bypass onto Haughton Road."

Anyone with any information on the incident can contact Durham Police by calling non-emergency number 101, quoting incident number 319 of August 17.