Police appealed for witnesses last night after a horse and trap driver was killed on a busy North-East road.

The dead man was named yesterday as 33-year-old Wayne Walker, of Springwell Village, Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Mr Walker was driving his horse and trap south along Washington Highway on Sunday lunchtime when it was in collision with a Honda Accord car carrying four people.

Police said he was killed and his horse was so badly injured it had to be put down.

The car driver needed hospital treatment but was not thought to be badly injured.

Officers closed the busy dual carriageway for four-and-a-half hours following the incident which happened at about 12.45pm.

A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said two people had been arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and later released on police bail.

Officers have mounted a search for a third person who was in the car and who went missing after the incident.

A fourth person was detained in hospital.

Police said a number of witnesses had already come forward but they appealed for more information about the incident.

here was no answer at Mr Walker's neat semi-detached home where the curtains were drawn yesterday.

Neighbours paid tribute to the dead man.

One, who did not wish to be named, said Mr Walker was married and the couple had a two-year-old son called Nathan.

He said the family had only moved into their home in Highworth Drive shortly before Christmas. ''It is a tragedy,'' he said.

Less than one mile away Mr Walker's family own a large stone detached house with its own stables and fields for horses on the edge of the village.

A number of four-wheel drive vehicles stood outside the property along with a gypsy-style caravan and a colourful trap for a horse to pull.

A man in his twenties who answered at the property which is protected by large gates, said the family did not wish to comment at this stage.

Mr Walker's family runs a successful roofing business.