Police yet to receive £2m after A66 crash, says commissioner

A police force has still not received the £2m it was promised by the government in the wake of a car crash that led to the deaths of seven people, including two police officers, the local police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said.

Cleveland PCC Matt Storey said Cleveland Police was still waiting for the extra funding promised by the home secretary almost two months ago.

Shabana Mahmood pledged the cash in light of the challenges faced by the force following the deaths, which followed a pursuit on the A66 at South Bank, near Middlesbrough, on 22 August. Five young men were also killed.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

During the fatal crash, a Volkswagen Passat in which the five young men were travelling hit an oncoming marked Cleveland Police vehicle on the dual carriageway near Middlesbrough at about 03:39 BST.

Officers PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died at the scene.

The occupants of the VW Passat, which was travelling the wrong way down the A66 at South Bank - Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and 17-year-olds Theo Rae and Cole Robert Worthy - were also killed.

On the morning of the crash, Cleveland Police said it received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously around the town and a Volvo XC60 had been seen ramming properties.

Further arrests were subsequently made in connection with organised crime, including the following weekend after another vehicle ramming.

Storey called for the immediate release of the £2m but also said policing costs linked to the crash, which had led to the arrests of 50 people so far, were now forecast to exceed £5m.

"These are exceptional and unavoidable costs arising from utterly tragic and devastating circumstances," he said.

"They are not costs that should be borne locally or met from existing policing budgets."

The PCC also criticised the lack of a "substantive" communication from the government about Cleveland Police's long-term funding.

Storey said the current police funding model, which Mahmood had previously committed to reviewing, disadvantaged the Teesside force.

He said the upcoming Budget was a chance to "align resources more fairly with demand" and "place Cleveland on a sustainable footing".

The 50 arrests have come as part of a wider police operation against organised crime following the crash.

Fifteen people have been charged - 13 men and two women ranging in age from 19-45.

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