Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne is in a ‘serious, but not life-threatening’ condition in hospital this morning after being involved in a car crash yesterday evening.

The accident, which took place at around 9:45pm yesterday in the Sandhill area of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne’s quayside, occurred when the car in which Gascoigne was travelling, left the road and hit a nearby lamppost.

The driver of the car, a 36-year-old woman, has since been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

A spokesman for the Northumbrian Police force said;

“For reasons yet to be established, the car left the road and collided with a lamppost. A female driver and two male passengers were taken to hospital with injuries which were not described as life-threatening.

[The driver of the vehicle] has been arrested on suspicion of drink- driving and bailed pending further inquiries.

The condition of the two men in hospital has been described as serious but not life-threatening. The woman has been discharged.”

Newcastle General Hospital have confirmed that they are treating the former Newcastle, Tottenham and Rangers star and another man, and that the pair are in ‘serious but stable’ conditions.

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Joyce Wemyss, the manager of a quayside side bar near to the site of the crash, was working the late shift when she heard the incident occur outside;

“I just heard the sounds of tyres screeching very loud and saw a dark blue car come pelting round the corner from under the Tyne Bridge. The driver lost control and went smack into the side of the Guildhall, hitting the taxi rank sign as it went.

There was a lot of smoke coming from the car and all the cabbies from the rank outside the pub went running over. They pulled out the driver, a woman, and got on the phone to the emergency services.

One of the bus drivers who went to help said she smelled as though she’d been drinking. There was an ambulance there within five minutes, then police cars and two fire engines, then two more ambulances.

They taped everything off outside and the road was closed for an hour and a half.

I had no idea [Gascoigne] was a passenger. It had been dead quiet on the Quayside that night and he had not been drinking in here. I hope he’s all right.”

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Yet again ‘Gazza’ is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons  – although, to be fair, it doesn’t appear to be his fault this time.

The 43-year-old has battled drink and drug addiction, as well as ongoing bouts of depression since the end of his playing career – continually suffering relapse after relapse.

Add to this his various assault charges and a myriad of different therapy interventions for bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder (not to mention the fact that he was sectioned under the mental health act in 2008) and the image you get of the man is almost that of a child caught in a man’s body – never knowing when to ‘say no’.

I’m sorry if this sounds crass, but it seems to me to be a wonder that Paul Gascoigne didn’t die years ago.