Seven more men arrested by Cleveland Police after A66 crash - as cars set on fire at vigil

A further seven men have been arrested as part of Cleveland Police's investigation into organised crime in Middlesbrough after a fatal collision killed seven last weekend.

The force, investigating a series of recent incidents in the Middlesbrough area, said a total of 24 people had now been arrested.

It comes after reports emerged that several cars were set on fire at a vigil in neighbouring County Durham to remember 23-year-old Michael Cahill - one of five young men in a stolen car driving down the wrong side of the A66 on Saturday.

The Volkswagen Passat collided with a police car, killing all seven, including PCs Tom Clough and Matthew Blades.

In an update on their investigation in the area since that incident, Cleveland Police said that they had arrested four men on suspicion of criminal damage with intent to endanger life, arson and possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

The force said all four - aged 35, 25, 40 and 21 - were in a vehicle when they were stopped by police on Kingsley Road in Grangetown at 10.30pm on Thursday.

It added that the arson relates to a caravan that was set alight on Atlee Road on Wednesday, while the criminal damage with intent to endanger life relates to a vehicle crashing into a property at Steele Crescent.

Three others arrested and £15,000 seized

The force also said a further three - aged 23, 42 and 30 - had been arrested.

The 23-year-old was arrested on suspicion of threats to kill.

Officers added that the 42-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of threats to kill and possession of criminal property, while the 30-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possession of criminal property.

All three have been released on conditional bail, police said, adding officers also seized £15,000 in cash.

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'Completely unacceptable' vigil: Police

Social media videos on Thursday appeared to show vehicles alight in Haswell, County Durham, where balloons, flares and fireworks were released in tribute to Cahill.

Other footage seemed to show burnt-out cars being moved from the field, 20 miles north of the crash site, by a tractor.

Durham Constabulary said they were called to a private field soon after 5.30pm on Thursday, where five vehicles were wrecked as a large crowd gathered.

The crowd's behaviour was condemned as "completely unacceptable" by officers who said it was deemed safest to let the vehicles burn out.

Nobody was injured, and there were no arrests.

Two arrested for murder after house fire

Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East Andy McDonald described the spate of violence in the Middlesbrough area as "terrorism".

It comes as more than 200 extra officers have been drafted in to help Cleveland Police after multiple violent incidents across Middlesbrough.

Meanwhile, two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in relation to the house fire that killed Natalie McDonald, 34, and her niece Valentina Foster, and injured four others.

A woman and a seven-year-old girl died in a house fire in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, on Wednesday - just one mile away from where two police officers and five young men were killed in the head-on car crash on the A66 in South Bank early on Saturday.

Police said on Friday afternoon that they are not linking the house fire with the A66 crash.

(c) Sky News 2026: Seven more men arrested by Cleveland Police after A66 crash - as cars set on fire at vigil