Extra 200 police aid crash and fire deaths force

An extra 200 police officers are being sent to support an investigation into a car crash and a house fire which left nine people dead, a council leader has said.

Seven people, including two police officers, died in the crash at South Bank near Middlesbrough on Saturday, followed by a house fire in Grangetown on Wednesday that claimed the lives of a woman aged 34 and a seven-year-old girl.

Alec Brown, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, said armed officers, dog units and "community bobbies" were among the additional personnel supporting local detectives.

Cleveland Police said it was receiving support from neighbouring forces, but exact numbers were "changing all the time".

It confirmed staff from the National Crime Agency, and the Northumbria, Durham, Humberside and North, South and West Yorkshire forces were supporting local officers.

Earlier Prime Minister Andy Burnham said "all of the support will be provided to get to the heart of what has happened" over the past days.

In an update on social media, Brown said: "Over 200 extra police officers from forces around the country are here and are on route, from detectives to armed response.

"If it is any reassurance at all, jobs called in to the police are actually down this week, however the seriousness of the ones that have been called in need serious and swift action."

Speaking to the BBC, the Labour councillor said: "Let's not forget two police officers lost their lives in the line of duty, so of course colleagues from around the country are going to want to come and support Cleveland Police.

"Yesterday we had a horrific house fire in Grangetown... and within hours there were two arrests being made.

"Police that were mourning the loss of their colleagues only three days beforehand were on site having to deal with some horrific sights of a lady and a poor little girl losing their lives."

Earlier Brown told Radio 4's Today programme that residents deserved to "feel safe in their own homes" and he understood people from the area might feel "left behind".

"I'm from an estate, from the same ilk," he said.

"You live around people that may be suffering poverty or other social issues, it can be that uniform sort of consciousness that 'we're left behind'.

"But I can assure the people of Grangetown and South Bank they're as important to me as people from any other estate in the borough."

Local Labour MPs Anna Turley, Luke Myer, Andy McDonald, Jonathan Brash and Chris McDonald issued a joint statement in which they welcomed the help of other police forces during the past week, but called for more long-term support to protect residents who had expressed "safety concerns" for "far too long".

Myer said current national funding formulas for the police and fire service did not take into account the "seriousness" of the crime people in Teesside faced.

"We essentially have a metropolitan style of crime and also risk of fire but with a sort of rural-style funding," he said.

"This is why we need to see a real overhaul of the funding formula."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told the Press Association the events in and around Middlesbrough over the last week were "deeply worrying".

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On Saturday, PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough died when a Volkswagen Passat, which was going the wrong way on the A66 at South Bank, hit their vehicle.

The five young men in the Volkswagen also died and inquests into all seven deaths opened on Thursday.

Police said 17 people, aged between 18 and 61, had been arrested across Teesside as part of an investigation into the lead-up to the crash.

They have been held on a range of offences including possession of a firearm and being part of an organised crime group.

Cleveland Police are also investigating another crash in which a vehicle hit the wall of a house in South Bank in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The property had been empty at the time and the force said it had "not yet been confirmed whether this incident is linked to wider organised crime".

On Wednesday, Natalie McDonald, 34, died along with her seven-year-old niece Valentina Foster in the fire in Grangetown.

Natalie's mother, Lisa Kirton, described her as "a beautiful soul, who would have done anything for anybody".

Valentina, who was known as Tina, was staying at the house for the summer holidays and had been "dancing around the living room" only the previous night.

Lisa said Natalie's 15-year-old daughter and a friend had managed to escape after the friend "kicked out a window" upstairs.

Natalie's brother, Josh Kirton, said she had not been involved with "anything to do with gangs" or the crash on the A66.

"That's what makes this so senseless," he said.

"There's some terrible people in the world and now my sister and Valentina have gone."

The fire also left a 48-year-old woman in a critical condition in hospital, while another three people suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Two men, aged 23 and 31, were arrested on suspicion of murder and remained in custody.

Cleveland Police said it was "keeping an open mind" about the fire and said it could not "rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time".

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