A WOMAN was seriously ill in hospital last night after her car collided with a lorry.

The accident happened as the 24-year-old was driving east along the A181 near Wheatley Hill, east Durham, at 9.20am yesterday.

At the junction with Cemetery Road, her Vauxhall Corsa collided with a Mercedes flatbed truck turning right.

The woman, from the Trimdon Grange area of County Durham, was trapped in her car for 45 minutes before she was cut free. She was airlifted to Middlesbrough General Hospital.

She suffered head and internal injuries and her condition was described as critical last night. The lorry driver, a 43-year-old Teesside man, was uninjured.

Witnesses are asked to call 0191-386 4929.