A man has been arrested after crashing head-on into a car as he drove the wrong way down the A1 and left eight people hospitalised.
A blue Audi Q3 that had been travelling on the correct side of a stretch of the A1 in Northumberland suddenly entered the wrong side of the carriageway for an unknown reason.
It then crashed head-on into a silver Mitsubishi Mirage which had three passengers at around 7.30 last night.
Alongside the three people in the Mitsubishi, five people in the Audi were treated when emergency services got to the scene. All eight were then sent to hospital.
One man in his 40s suffered serious injuries but was reported to be in a stable condition in hospital.
Both cars were damaged significantly following the crash.
The 37-year-old driver of the Audi has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He has been released on bail as police investigate the crash.
A blue Audi Q3 that had been travelling on the correct side of a stretch of the A1 in Northumberland suddenly entered the wrong side of the carriageway for an unknown reason (stock image)
Part of the road was closed for several hours on Saturday evening following the crash but has now reopened.
The North East Ambulance Service said: 'We attended a head-on road traffic collision between two vehicles on the A1 between Alnwick and Belford in Northumberland yesterday (21 Feb).
'After receiving the first call at 7.30pm we dispatched four ambulance crews, a specialist paramedic, a clinical team leader and one Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) crew.
'We treated eight patients in total; two with serious injuries to head and leg and a further six with minor injuries.
'Seven patients were taken to the Northumbria Hospital in Cramlington and one to RVI in Newcastle.'
Northumbria Police has urged any witnesses to come forward and said it wanted to hear from anyone who has dashcam footage of the crash.
