A RENEWED police appeal was issued yesterday for witnesses to a road accident in which a car passenger suffered serious injuries.

Three teenagers were in the Fiat Punto heading towards Thornley, in east Durham, on an unclassified road from the nearby village of Ludworth.

Police said the car failed to negotiate a right hand bend before coming to rest in a field, around 500m north of the junction with Hartlepool Street, in Thornley.

The 17-year-old front seat passenger, from nearby Wheatley Hill, was taken to Durham's University Hospital of North Durham suffering serious head injuries before being transferred to Newcastle General Hospital, where he subsequently underwent emergency surgery.

He was yesterday said to be in a 'stable' condition.

Both the driver, a 17-year-old from Thornley, and his other passenger, aged 15 and also from Wheatley Hill, both escaped injury.

The road was closed for more than three house after the crash, at around 9.45pm on Friday.

Anyone who saw the car in the minutes leading up to the incident is asked to contact Durham Police's accident investigation unit.

Officers would particularly like to speak to occupants of a white Vauxhall Astra which is believed to have passed the Punto, heading in the opposite direction, at the time of the accident.

Anyone with information is asked to ring 0191-375 2159.