Cleveland Police given extra £2m to tackle serious crime after deadly crash

Cleveland Police will be given an extra £2m to tackle serious crime, the home secretary has announced, after a spate of incidents in and around Middlesbrough.

It follows a deadly collision near the town on 22 August, when the five occupants of a vehicle driving the wrong way down the A66 crashed into a police car, killing themselves along with two policemen.

The two officers, PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed when the Volkswagen Passat hit their marked armed response vehicle. A police pursuit of the Volkswagen had been abandoned shortly before.

The five young men who died in the other car may have had links to "serious and organised criminal activity", according to Cleveland Police.

Shabana Mahmood made the announcement after Prime Minister Andy Burnham paid tribute to the two officers killed in the crash.

As MPs returned to parliament on Tuesday, the prime minister told the Commons: "I know the whole House will wish to join me in expressing deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, who were killed in the line of duty on the A66.

"We will do our best to support the Middlesbrough community, which is hurting and grieving right now, and we hear the call from the members of this House representing it for a discussion about investment in policing and police numbers."

Announcing plans to bolster Cleveland's policing resources, Ms Mahmood said: "I can also announce today, in light of the situation the force has faced, we will allocate an additional £2m to Cleveland Police to tackle serious crime in the area."

Read more from Sky News:
Jury deadlock in trial of woman who killed her children
Family pays tribute to 'beloved daughter' who died in house fire

Around 200 police officers from outside Cleveland Police have been drafted in to help the force tackle organised crime following the crash on the A66.

Conservative MP Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said the £2m uplift was "clearly wholly inadequate in the circumstances", pointing to a warning earlier this year by Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey that the force was facing a £2.4m funding shortfall.

Speaking earlier this year, Mr Storey, a Labour police and crime commissioner, said the government's funding for the force "completely fails to deliver the resources required to meet the demand faced by Cleveland Police and falls far short of what is needed".

(c) Sky News 2026: Cleveland Police given extra £2m to tackle serious crime after deadly crash