A man has been charged with dangerous driving after seven officers were injured in a crash involving five police vehicles and a car which was being pursued on Tyneside.

The crash happened near the Derwent Haugh Road junction of the A1, on the borders of Gateshead and Newcastle, at 2.27am on April 9.

Officers were chasing a dark grey BMW when the ‘absolute carnage’ unfolded, triggering a large-scale emergency response with the fire service having to remove the roof from at least one police vehicle to get inside.

Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, of Durham, will appear at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on Saturday over the collision on the northbound A1 on April 9.

Northumbria Police said he has been charged with dangerous driving, two counts of failing to stop a motor vehicle when required by a constable, two counts of no insurance use, and two counts of driving otherwise than in accordance with licence.

He is also accused of a further four counts of driving otherwise than in accordance with licence and four counts of driving with no insurance.

The force said a woman in her 20s was released with no further action to be taken in relation to her arrest on suspicion of aiding and abetting dangerous driving.

She was, however, released on police bail for suspected drug possession offences, pending further inquiries.

Seven police officers were taken to hospital after the horror crash involving five police vehicles on April 9

Mazyar Azarbonyad, 20, of Durham, will appear at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on Saturday over the collision on the northbound A1 

One police car has been left without a roof and three of its doors, with the fire service called to assist

The Northumbria force said seven officers were taken to hospital with what it described as non-life threatening injuries. They have all since been discharged.

A spokesman said the two occupants of a BMW, which was being pursued at the time, were uninjured.

The horror pile-up closed the road for more than 12 hours, with glass and debris left scattered across all three lanes. 

The collision happened on the A1 carriageway below the roundabout where gunman Raoul Moat shot PC David Rathband, leaving him blind, in 2010.

The spokesman said officers attempted to stop a dark grey BMW M Sport in the Whickham area of Gateshead at about 2am, because of concerns about the way it was being driven.

The car drove off and was later seen in the Swalwell area.

He said specialist officers from the roads policing unit got behind the car at 2.25am and a pursuit was authorised.

Images from the scene showed four marked police vehicles badly damaged, a car on its side, and debris scattered across the carriageway.

The scene on the A1 Western bypass in Newcastle this morning left the road closed in both directions for 12 hours

A BMW M Sport was also involved in the crash and had been surrounded by battered police vehicles in the middle of the highway

Smashed glass and debris remained scattered across the road following the crash

One of the police vehicles is lifted from the scene of the high-speed crash

Four marked cars were damaged, with one having its roof and doors ripped off, while a fifth unmarked cruiser completely turned on its side

One of the police vehicles had its roof torn off.

A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said at the time: ‘We received a call at 2.29am on Wednesday 9 April to reports of a road traffic collision on the A1 northbound near Denton, Newcastle.

‘We dispatched five ambulance crews, a specialist paramedic, a duty officer, two crews from our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and requested support from our colleagues at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) who attended by road.

‘Five patients were transported to hospital for further treatment.’