7 dead in UK after vehicle travelling in wrong direction hits police car

Seven people, including two police officers, died in a car crash in northeast England on Saturday after a car heading the wrong ‌way down a major road hit a marked police armed response car, the local police force said.

Cleveland Police said the incident took place in the early hours of Saturday near the South Bank area east of Middlesbrough and that all occupants of the two cars ⁠died at the scene.

“This is an incredibly sad day for Cleveland,” ‌Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said.

The police force said it had formally identified the passengers in the other car, ‌a Volkswagen Passat, and was contacting their families.

Fuller named the ⁠two dead ⁠officers as police constables Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, describing them as “brave officers … ‌who didn’t return home to their families at the end of their shift”.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham ‌also ‌released a brief statement expressing his sadness at the incident, which ‌as usual in such cases will be reviewed by Britain’s Independent Office ⁠for Police Conduct.