A66 crash: Everything we know so far on Monday morning as tributes paid to officers

Two police officers were among seven people who died in a crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, were killed when a Volkswagen Passat – which was travelling the wrong way down the dual carriageway – collided with their vehicle that was going in the correct direction.

Five young men, aged between 17 and 23, who were in the Volkswagen were named on Sunday afternoon. Their families are being supported by officers, Cleveland Police said.

In a statement on Sunday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed some of the circumstances that led up to the crash.

The scene near the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough following a fatal crash involving a police car and a Volkswagen Passat in which seven people died, including two police officers, following a police pursuit in the early hours of Saturday morning. Richard McCarthy/PA Wire

Here, the Press Association looks at what we know so far:

The IOPC’s initial inquiries established that Cleveland Police received intelligence regarding numerous incidents linked to a Volkswagen Passat.

After a subsequent sighting of the Passat, an armed response vehicle – separate to the one Pc Blades and Pc Clough were travelling in – began a pursuit.

Although the full route of the pursuit is unknown, Ring doorbell footage published by several websites, which appears to have been taken on Lime Road in Middlesbrough minutes before the crash, shows a car being driven at speed down a residential road and being followed by three police cars.

Flowers left near to the scene on the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough following a fatal crash involving a police car and a Volkswagen Passat in which seven people died, including two police officers, following a police pursuit in the early hours of Saturday morning. Richard McCarthy/PA Wire

Teesville resident Neil Hutchinson told the Mail on Sunday he was woken up by “police cars tearing down the street at 3.30am with lights flashing and their sirens going”.

Footage has also been published which appears to show the Volkswagen subsequently being pursued by two police cars down The Larches.

There is also footage of two police cars, with lights on, turning around in Elm Close, a cul-de-sac off The Larches. The footage, taken from home CCTV, is timestamped 03.37am when the police cars leave.

The pursuit lasted just under seven minutes in total before the Volkswagen, containing the five males, entered the A66 in South Bank against the flow of traffic, the IOPC said.

Officers abandoned the pursuit but they continued to travel on the correct side of the dual carriageway.

Pc Blades and Pc Clough had not been involved in the pursuit but their car was in the area to assist in a search for the Passat, which was believed to be using cloned plates that had activated an ANPR camera.

Approximately 10 seconds after the pursuit was abandoned, the Passat collided with their armed response vehicle at 3.39am.

The collision killed all seven people involved.

The five young men in the Passat – Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak – were pronounced dead at the scene.

Pc Blades’s wife said he was “the most devoted father” and “adored” as a son, brother, son-in-law and uncle.

“No words will ever feel like the right words to honour our Matt — my beloved husband, my best friend, and the most devoted father to our two young boys,” she said in a tribute released on Sunday evening.

“The pain of losing him is beyond words, and our lives will never be the same. Neither will the love he gave us ever fade,” she added.

Her tribute added: “He may have left this world committed to the duty he believed in, but his greatest legacy will always be the love he gave to his family.”

Pc Blades had recently become a Seaton Carew FC coach, according to the football club which said he had preparing to coach his own son in the coming season and was a “much-loved” member.

Pc Clough’s family said he was their “hero” who was “always on public duty” in a statement released on Sunday afternoon.

They said: “He was our hero with a fantastic of humour. Jumped into action whenever needed, and willing to help anyone for any reason. Proudly fought for his country to make the world a better place. Always on public duty throughout his short life.”

A Section 60 order – which gives officers additional stop and search powers – is in place near the site of the crash until 7.15pm on Sunday. It covers an area around Cargo Fleet Lane east, up to Normanby Road, along Longlands Road and the Trunk Road south to Ormesby Road.

A section of the A66 remained closed on Sunday afternoon.