A MALE pedestrian died when he was knocked down by a car near Northallerton.

A dark blue Ford Mondeo, driven by a Northallerton man, was travelling from Thirsk to Northallerton on the A168 when it collided with the pedestrian. The collision occurred near Watergate Farm, about one mile south of Northallerton at 1am yesterday morning.

The dead man was later named as Neil Graham, 33, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

Anyone with any information, and anyone who was on the A168 between 11pm and 1am on Saturday and saw either Mr Graham or the Ford Mondeo, is asked to phone PC Brian Rogers on the Eastern Area collision witness line on 01723 509555.

Updated: 09:53 Monday, May 05, 2003