A TAXI driver was last night fighting for his life following a two car smash.

The 36-year-old, from the Darlington area, was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, on Friday night in a critical condition after the collision on the A167 at Newton Aycliffe.

Yesterday he was described as being in a critical but stable condition.

Two passengers in his red Skoda Octavia taxi, a 50-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, both from Darlington, suffered minor injuries in the incident, which happened near the Central Parade junction at around 8.10pm.

The other car involved, a Mercedes Benz E350, left the road, but its driver - a 26-year-old from Newton Aycliffe - escaped unhurt.

Yesterday Durham County Council responded to comments from Newton Aycliffe mayor Wendy Hillary, who told The Northern Echo three street lights on that stretch of road were not working at the time.

She understood the fault had been reported and believed the lack of repairs could be linked to council proposals to remove street lights along the A167 from junction 59 of the A1, near Newton Aycliffe, to the Cock of the North roundabout, near Durham.

However, John Reed, the council's head of technical services, insisted it had not switched any street lights off and that, while some had failed, the road was generally lit at the time of the collision.

“The safety of people using our highways is always the most important factor for us," he added.

“We routinely inspect all street lights after dark twice a year and constantly monitor those linked to our central electronic system.

“Between these inspections we rely on the public reporting any lights being out.

“The police report in this instance is clear. The stretch of the A167 in question was generally lit but it does reference some lights at the scene not being illuminated.

“We’ll investigate this. I can confirm that we’ve had no previous reports of any faults in the vicinity.

“There’s certainly no question of the council choosing not to repair street lights and we’re not aware that street lighting was a contributory factor in this instance.”

A Durham Police spokesman said: “Our enquiries are still at an early stage and street lighting is just one of several factors to be considered by the officers investigating the collision.

“The street lighting along the stretch of road where the crash took place was present and generally lit, although a number of streetlights were not illuminated at the scene.”

Any witnesses to the collision should call the Cleveland and Durham Police specialist operations unit on 101 ext 742704.

* A report of the collision in The Northern Echo yesterday said that it happened on an unlit road in complete darkness. We accept this was not the case and apologise for any confusion caused.