‘These were brave officers’: tributes paid to Cleveland police killed in A66 crash

Redcar MP says Teesside community is ‘reeling’ as PM offers condolences and asks public to avoid speculation

Tributes are being paid to two police officers who died on Teesside when a car travelling the wrong way along the A66 crashed head on into their vehicle, also killing five young men.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed when the marked armed response vehicle they were in was struck by a Volkswagen Passat in the early hours of Saturday morning.