A man died when his car left the road and hit a wooden fence.
The 63-year-old, from the Langley Park area of Durham, was on the A167 Chilton by-pass heading towards Darlington shortly after 02:00 BST.
His grey Citroen left the road between West Chilton Terrace and Rushyford, crashed through the fence and then stopped in a field.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance staff. Durham Police said no other vehicles were involved.
