POLICE today appealed for information from witnesses to a fatal accident on the A1(M).

Both sides of the motorway were closed between Chester-le-Street and Carrville, near Durham, for four hours last night following a collision involving a lorry and a pedestrian.

The lorry was travelling southbound when the collision took place on the inside lane, quarter-of-a-mile south of junction 63, the Blind Lane interchange at Chester-le-Street, at about 7pm.

Durham Police said the pedestrian, a 36-year-old man from the Newcastle area, was confirmed dead at the scene. He has not yet been publicly identified.

The lorry was slightly damaged and the driver suffered shock, but did not require medical treatment.

Police said the incident took place shortly after the Highways Agency attended a report of a broken down vehicle on the hard shoulder of the southbound carriageway of the A1(M), at 7pm.

A male pedestrian appeared from the southbound side of the road, ran across the carriageway, the central reservation and across the northbound carriageway.

Several other motorists reported a pedestrian running on the hard shoulder on the southbound side of the road shortly before the fatal collision.

Following the accident the road remained closed in both directions between junctions 63 and 62 to allow initial inquiries to take place at the scene by the emergency services.

Both carriageways reopened to traffic at 11pm.

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to ring 101, and ask for the Durham force’s collision investigation unit.