Five people were taken to hospital after a police pursuit ended in a major crash that shut the A1 on Tyneside.As well as long delays on the dual carriageway, at least four marked police vehicles were wrecked.The North East Ambulance Service said it took a number of patients to hospital following the early morning smash.Images from the scene near Denton, Newcastle, also show a car on its side and debris scattered across the northbound carriageway.