A MINIBUS driver was injured in a collision with a car this morning as he transported children to school.

A police spokesman said the accident happened when a white Ford transit collided with a VW Golf near the junction of the A181 and the B6291 at Thornley, County Durham, at 8.50am.

The 52-year-old driver was cut free from the minibus by firefighters and was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham by the North East Ambulance Service.

A police spokesman said he was suspected to have suffered whiplash injuries, but nothing serious.

The spokesman added: "There were five passengers in the minibus - all heading to a school in Bishop Auckland - and they were all uninjured.

"Two were teenage boys, one was a man in his mid-20s another a woman in her early 40s. There is no age for the fifth person - a male."

The other vehicle was a grey VW Golf driven by a 30-year-old woman.

She was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham UHND with suspected whiplash injuries. A seven-year-old girl passenger in the car was unhurt.