Seven people died in an A66 crash in South Bank, Teesside, in the early hours of Saturday, 22 August 2026, including two serving Cleveland Police officers.
A marked police vehicle collided with a Volkswagen Passat that was travelling the wrong way along the dual carriageway at 03:39 British Summer Time (04:39 SAST), as reported by ITV News.
Everyone in both vehicles was pronounced dead at the scene.
What happened before the A66 crash
Officers had begun following a suspicious vehicle earlier that morning, but the pursuit was abandoned a short time before the collision.
Cleveland Police said the marked vehicle involved in the crash had not formed part of that pursuit and was travelling in the area when the two cars met.
The North East Ambulance Service sent 14 resources to the scene, including emergency ambulance crews, a specialist paramedic, its Hazardous Area Response Team and a doctor from the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
The service said a number of patients died at the scene despite the efforts of everyone who attended.
Who died in the A66 crash
Cleveland Police named the two officers who died as PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough. Five members of the public were travelling in the Passat, and their identities had not been released at the time of publishing.
Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller said:
“First and foremost, our thoughts are with the families of everyone involved in today’s incident. No one should leave their home and not return safely, including police officers serving their communities and protecting the people of Cleveland.”
Why the IOPC has opened an investigation
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the watchdog that oversees complaints and serious incidents involving forces in England and Wales, received the referral at 06:03 local time (07:03 SAST).
A referral is compulsory whenever someone dies after contact with police, whether or not any wrongdoing is suspected.
Fuller added:
“The investigation has been referred to the IOPC, which is the standard approach when a death occurs following police contact. We will cooperate fully with their investigation. While this investigation takes place, we strongly urge people to avoid speculation.”
Investigators from the watchdog, which is independent of the police and can direct or take over inquiries into deaths that follow police contact, focused first on the post incident procedures, the formal process in which officers involved give their accounts and evidence is preserved.
IOPC Director of Investigations Nicola Marfleet said:
“This is a tragic incident, and my thoughts are with family and friends and all those affected, including the emergency services in attendance. Our investigation is in the very early stages, we have sent investigators to the post incident procedures to begin reviewing evidence.”
The A66 stayed closed through Saturday and a significant emergency services presence remained at the scene.
The IOPC placed its inquiry at a very early stage and said further updates would follow as investigators worked through the evidence gathered at the post incident procedures.
