POLICE say the victim of a fatal road accident is believed to be a County Durham man in his 40s.

The accident happened around 3.40pm on Sunday, on the A183 Chester Road, around a quarter of a mile south of Blind Lane interchange, or junction 63 of the A1(M).

"The driver of a silver Lexus IS200 was heading in the direction of Sunderland but for some reason his car left the carriageway and collided with a stone wall and bridge parapet," said a spokesman for Durham Police. 

"Paramedics and staff from the air ambulance attended to treat the casualty but he was sadly confirmed dead at the scene.

"The driver is believed to be a man in his 40's from County Durham."

A spokesman for the Great North Air Ambulance said: "We arrived on site at approximately 3.50pm and one male was treated at the scene.

"Sadly, despite the best efforts of emergency services he has subsequently died."

Durham Constabulary would like to speak with anybody who may have seen the silver Lexus at or around the time of the collision.

Anybody with any information is asked to contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 0191-3752159 or Durham Police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting incident reference 0288 of January 29.