EMERGENCY services were dealing with a single motorcycle accident on a dales road in County Durham today.

A motorcyclist appeared to have come off his machine on a bend on the A689 between Eastgate and Westgate, in Weardale, and appeared badly injured, lying on the roadside.

Police and ambulances were quickly on the scene to offer treatment, as traffic built up in each direction.

The road was reduced to single lane passage as the casualty was given initial treatment at the scene before beinbg taken to hospital.

A North-East Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We were called at 3.50pm to reports of a motorcyclist who had collided with a lamppost on the A689, between Eastgate and Westgate.

"We dispatched an ambulance paramedic crew and the casualty was treated for back and shoulder injuries at the scene, before being taken to the University Hospital of North Durham.