Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox has issued a statement along with the latest update from Cleveland Police.

"This has been a fast moving and complex investigation, with significant links to serious and organised criminal activity," he says.

“The events of that tragic night will have a lasting and profound impact on the Cleveland area and the communities we seek to protect.

"We have a duty to respond to, and thoroughly investigate, the serious criminal activity that resulted in this fatal incident and to bring all those responsible to justice."

ACC Fox adds the police response will continue "in the weeks and months to come" and thanks officers and staff who he says have shown "incredible resilience in continuing their work in the face of tragedy" and have acted with the "upmost professionalism".

He also thanks the local community and the "wider police family" for all their support.

• Nine men and three women, aged 19 - 61, have been arrested across Teesside
• They have been held on suspicion of offences ranging from possession of a firearm to participating in the activities of an organised crime group
• The force had received several reports of two vehicles "being driven dangerously" on Saturday morning
• The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was seen "ramming properties" in the Middlesbrough area
• The second vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat, is believed to have been associated with this
• Both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates but were picked up by the force's automated number plate recognition technology
• The Volvo has since been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough
• Four of the five people in the Passat, including three teenagers, had previous convictions
• There is no evidence that the activities of Friday night and Saturday morning were filmed for TikTok

Here's the full statement released by Cleveland Police, confirming it has made 12 arrests in response to the crash which killed seven people, including two of its officers:

Cleveland Police has launched a wide-scale investigation into the criminality which took place prior to the fatal crash that took the lives of seven, including PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough.

On the morning of Saturday 22 August, Cleveland Police received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously.

The first vehicle, which is believed to be a Volvo XC60, was witnessed to be ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area.

The second vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat, is believed to have been associated with the activities of the Volvo XC60.

Both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates to avoid detection but were picked up by the force’s automated number plate recognition technology.

The Volvo XC60 involved in the initial reports has been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough as part of the criminal investigation.

Throughout the course of the weekend Cleveland Police, supported by officers and staff from Durham, Northumbria and North Yorkshire Police, have worked tirelessly to establish the circumstances which led to the fatal collision.

Those enquires have resulted in the arrests of 12 people across Teesside.

Nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, have been arrested on suspicion of several offences.

Ranging from possession of a firearm to participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

At the current time, there is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok.

Four of the occupants of the Passat had previous police convictions.

Fiona Trott
North of England correspondent, reporting from Teesside

What’s really noticeable, here at the scene, is how much support there is for the officers’ families and for the Cleveland Police force as a whole.

A message attached to a bouquet of flowers says “please know we stand with you as a community”.

That’s why it comes as no surprise that a fundraising page set up for the families of PC Blades and PC Clough has already raised more than £400,000.

The more information that’s released about them, the more we understand they didn’t just serve their community, they were at the heart of it in every way.

Mattie Blades was a football coach in his spare time and used to be a teacher. Tom Clough had been a soldier, who his family said “fought for his country to make the world a better place".

Image source, PA Media

Philippa Goymer
BBC North East and Cumbria

Cleveland Police says nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, have been arrested across Teesside on suspicion of offences "ranging from possession of a firearm to participating in the activities of an organised crime group".

It says: "There is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok."

In a statement, the force says it received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously on Saturday.

One of the vehicles - which it believes to be a Volvo XC60 - was seen ramming into properties in the Middlesbrough area and the force says this car has been recovered as part of the investigation.

The statement goes on to say a second vehicle - a Volkswagen Passat - is believed to be associated with the Volvo.

"Both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates to avoid detection but were picked up by the force’s automated number plate recognition technology," it says.

Philippa Goymer
BBC North East and Cumbria

Cleveland Police says it has arrested 12 people in response to the crash on the A66 on Saturday which killed seven people, as well as launching a wide-scale investigation "into the criminality which took place prior to the fatal crash".

We will bring you more shortly.

Pamela Tickell
BBC News, North East and Cumbria

Seven people - two police officers and five young men - died in the early hours of Saturday morning when a car going the wrong way down the A66 in South Bank on Teesside crashed into a police car.

A separate police vehicle had been pursuing the Volkswagen Passat until about 10 seconds before the crash.

Two police officers - PC Matthew Blades, aged 37, and PC Tom Clough, aged 38 - died at the scene.

The Passat's occupants - Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17 - also died.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the officers who died had been "in the area to assist in a search" for the Passat.

Cleveland Police had received reports linking the car, which was believed to be using cloned registration plates that activated an ANPR camera, to "numerous incidents", the watchdog said.

The A66 is now fully reopened in both directions following safety checks, Redcar and Cleveland Council has confirmed.

Image source, Louise Hobson/BBC

Pamela Tickell
BBC News, North East and Cumbria

The former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, says officers have to make "really difficult decisions" during pursuits.

He told BBC Breakfast: "I am not going to comment on what may have happened here, but in general you have people who in particular are too willing to take enormous risks with their own lives and the lives of others to commit crime."

Officers had been pursuing the Volkswagen Passat with the five young men in it until seconds before it collided with a marked armed response car on the A66 near Middlesbrough on Saturday.

"Police are always trying to balance all the different risks involved and really whatever they do they are damned if they do and damned if they don't," he said.

The prime minister says people who share footage glorifying dangerous driving are “doing something that’s truly reprehensible”.

Andy Burnham, who was speaking to reporters during a visit to Kyiv, following the fatal crash on the A66 on Saturday, criticised people who have posted videos of themselves driving recklessly on social media.

Videos showing activity that is against the law are not automatically illegalpublished at 13:11 BST

13:11 BST

Zoe Kleinman
Technology and AI editor

There’s a lot of discussion today about videos featuring dangerous driving, previously filmed by one of the men in the Passat and shared on TikTok.

We don’t know whether he intended for them to be part of a particular social media challenge or trend.

TikTok since has taken the videos and the account down, saying the content violated its terms and conditions.

But it might surprise you to hear that, in the UK, the videos themselves are not necessarily illegal.

According to the Online Safety Act, videos showing activity that is against the law, are not automatically illegal as well.

Considerations include whether the material is visible to children, and whether it has come from a known terrorist group. And it is up to the social network, not the police or the online safety regulator Ofcom, to decide for itself whether the material breaks the law, based on hundreds of pages of guidance published by the watchdog.

Ofcom opened an investigation into TikTok’s compliance with the Act back in July and says it is prepared to take action if it finds the platform has fallen short.

No 10 says it has urged TikTok and other social media platforms to remove wrong-way driving videos from its platforms after two police officers and five others were killed in a crash on the A66.

“The glorification of dangerous driving for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful and that is why we have raised the issue of this appalling content with social media companies since the tragedy," says a spokesperson for Downing Street.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy says there is a legal obligation to remove the content from platforms.

Regulatory bodies like Ofcom she says, has the Government’s “full backing to take tough action” against platforms which fail in their legal duties.

Court records show 18-year-old Makai Saddington pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and of causing racially aggravated alarm or distress to another in Middlesbrough on 9 June.

He appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court on 17 July charged with the offences and was given a conditional discharge for 12 months on both offences (concurrent) and ordered to pay the police officer £50 compensation.

Saddington was one of five people killed when the Volkswagen Passat they were in collided with a police vehicle. Two officers, PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, also died in the crash.

Cleveland Police has thanked people who passed on their condolences following the deaths of PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades.

The force invited people who wanted to submit a message of condolence to use their online form, external.

It says floral tributes can be left at the Memorial Garden at Cleveland Police HQ in Hemlington or any Cleveland Police station, and added there was a safe site in front of the South Tees Business Park sign for people who wanted to leave flowers close to the scene safely

It added the only official fundraising page for the families was by the Cleveland Police Federation.

Image source, PA Media

Security camera footage obtained on Saturday appears to show several police vehicles chasing a car moments before the fatal collision.

The clip is thought to have been captured on Lime Road in Middlesbrough at 03:36 BST.

About three minutes later, a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way on the nearby A66 collided with a marked police vehicle.

PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough died in the crash, along with the five occupants of the Passat.

PC Tom Clough's commanding officer from his time serving with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) has paid tribute to his “warmth, humour and authenticity”.

The CNC says PC Clough joined in 2013 and served until April 2018 as an authorised firearms officer based at Sellafield Operational Policing Unit.

Ch Supt Richard Clark says: "Tom was the epitome of professionalism, bringing dedication, skill and commitment to every task, whether serving within our Dynamic Search and Interdiction Team, or in his role as a Police Medic.

"Yet what made Tom truly special was his personality.

"Alongside his professional excellence, he possessed a fun-loving, cheeky nature and a wit that could lift spirits even during the most demanding shifts.

"He had an extraordinary ability to light up any room he entered and to bring people together through his warmth, humour and authenticity."

Image source, Cleveland Police

️A college where one of the officers killed in the A66 crash worked as a teacher has paid tribute to him on social media.

Carmel College in Darlington says PC Matthew Blades worked there as an English teacher before he joined Cleveland Police.

"Many within our community will remember Matty as an intelligent, kind and approachable teacher, a valued colleague and someone who gave generously of himself to the young people in his care," the statement says.

"We remember with great affection the contribution he made to life at Carmel and give thanks for the difference he made during his time with us," it adds.

The college says "our thoughts and prayers" are with Matthew’s wife, his two sons, and all those who knew and loved him. It also sent condolences to PC Tom Clough's friends and loved ones.

The social media post included an image of PC Blades posing with a running medal.

Image source, Instagram/@carmelcollegedarlington

Saturday

03:39: A collision involving a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat takes place on the A66 in South Bank, near Middlesbrough

08:28: Cleveland Police posts its first statement about the incident

13:29: Police confirm seven people have died as a result of the crash

15:51: Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he is "devastated to hear that two police officers have lost their lives"

16:25: Police name the two officers killed in the crash as PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades

Sunday

13:35: Police name five occupants of the Volkswagen Passat killed in the crash

14:49: The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) releases its initial findings from an investigation into the crash

17:13: Cleveland Police release tribute from the family of PC Tom Clough, describing him as "our hero with a fantastic sense of humour"

19:49: Cleveland Police release tribute from PC Matthew Blades' wife. She says the pain of losing him is "beyond words", and that the family's lives "will never be the same"

As we reported earlier, wellwishers have been leaving floral tributes and messages close to the scene of the collision on the A66.

People have also left tributes outside Cleveland Police HQ Memorial Garden in memory of PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades who were killed in Saturday's crash.

Photos from this morning show a Cleveland Police officer placing two bouquets of flowers among the growing number of tributes.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Pamela Tickell
BBC News, North East and Cumbria

The westbound carriageway of the A66 has reopened between Normanby Road and Church Lane in South Bank.

It was closed both ways throughout the weekend to allow repairs to be made to the carriageway after the crash.

Redcar and Cleveland Council leader Alec Brown said the local authority was still carrying out checks on the eastbound carriageway to ensure it could reopen safely.

The A66 is the major artery through Teesside and the location of the crash is surrounded by industrial units and factories.