Ex-footballer Gascoigne in hospital after crash

Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne is in hospital after being involved in a car accident in which a female driver was arrested on suspicion of being over the drink limit, emergency service sources said on Monday.

Gascoigne, 43, was said to be in a comfortable condition at Newcastle General Hospital, northeast England, after the vehicle he was travelling in left the road and hit a post on Sunday evening.

The 36-year-old female driver of the Vauxhall Astra and two male passengers were taken to hospital suffering non-life threatening injuries.

"He (Gascoigne) is in a comfortable position and was held in hospital overnight," a hospital spokeswoman said.

Gascoigne, whose problems with alcoholism and mental illness have been widely covered in the media since his retirement from the game, played for clubs including Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Rangers and Italy's Lazio.

He famously cried after being booked in the 1990 World Cup semi-final against West Germany, a punishment which would have ruled him out of the final if England had won a match they eventually lost in a penalty shootout.