No 10 backs ‘tough action’ if social platforms fail to remove dangerous driving posts after A66 crash

Downing Street condemns ‘utterly disgraceful’ clips and says sites are legally obliged to take them down

The government has given its full backing to Ofcom to take “tough action” against social media platforms that fail to remove videos that depict dangerous driving after a crash that killed seven people near Middlesbrough.

The collision in the early hours of Saturday, in which PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough died, occurred when a Volkswagen Passat carrying five people aged between 23 and 17 crashed head-on with a marked armed response vehicle while driving the wrong way on the A66.