A 69-year-old lorry driver had to be cut free from his cab by firefighters after he was involved in a crash with a tipper truck.

The man, who has not been named but who is from Derbyshire, is said to be in a critical but stable condition following the incident on the northbound carriageway of the A19 at Billingham, half a mile north of the A1027 junction, on Monday at 10.20pm.

He suffered serious injuries to his lower body, internal injuries, two fractured legs and injuries to his head and arm.

The man, who was driving a 3.5tonne Leyland Daf lorry, was travelling in the nearside lane as the outside lane was closed for some ongoing barrier repairs.

A tipper involved in the maintenance work was stationary in the outside lane, but moved across to the nearside lane into the path of the lorry.

This resulted in the front end of the lorry's cab colliding with the back end of the tipper causing extensive damage to the cab and trapping the driver in his seat. He was rescued by firefighters and taken by ambulance to the University Hospital of North Tees, Stockton.

There was moderate damage to the tipper and its 34-year-old driver, from Stockton, was uninjured.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cleveland Police's road policing unit on (01642) 301558.