Molly kept her unbeaten fighting record intact with an impressive victory on cousin Taylor’s undercard in Dublin, with close friend Paddy Pimblett watching on from ringside

MMA fighter Molly “Meatball” McCann has popped the question to her long-term girlfriend, Fran Parman.

The Liverpool fighter, a cousin of Katie Taylor, shared a series of gorgeous photos on Instagram showing the couple embracing, with Fran proudly displaying a stunning diamond ring on her perfectly manicured finger.

Fran went public with her relationship with Molly in 2024, posting a number of pictures from the early days of their romance, including moments of the pair dancing, enjoying meals out and spending quality time together.

Since making their relationship official, the couple have kept their followers regularly updated on their journey together, from ringside celebrations to heartfelt tributes on special dates and milestones.

This weekend, Molly kept her unbeaten fighting record intact with an impressive victory on cousin Taylor’s undercard in Dublin, with close friend Paddy Pimblett watching on from ringside. Following her win, she hinted she had “saved the best for last”.

The couple then made their way to Bray Head Cross in Wicklow, Ireland, which appears to be the spot where McCann got down on one knee, according to the Liverpool Echo, reports the Irish Mirror.

In a series of pictures shared online, including one of McCann re-enacting the proposal while kneeling, the pair were all smiles as they showed off Fran’s impressive engagement ring to mark the special occasion.

The caption read: “Saved the best till last, a weekend I knew the only way I could top it would be asking you to marry me.

“The easiest decision I’ve ever made. I promise to love you and protect you forever, here’s to the best weekend of my life. In a place I know means so much to us. Bray we love you.”

Familiar faces from right across Merseyside rushed to the comments section to offer their congratulations to the newly engaged couple. Everton FC posted: “Congratulations Molly and Fran!”.

Social media personality and presenter Still Ryan enthused: “So so so happy for you both.”

TNT Sports UFC commented: “Congratulations.”

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The faces and groups behind an explosion in far-right activity in Scotland.

Today the Record reveals the web of groups and activists who are driving an explosion in far-right activity in Scotland.

Professor Matthew Feldman, an expert of far right groups, has warned Scotland is now seeing a variety of people seeking to stir up a “race war” – with links to far-right organisations in Northern Ireland and across the globe. He said many participants don’t see themselves as “far right” despite their goals being firmly targeted at immigrants and their rhetoric often based on conspiracy theories.

Prof Feldman said: “There are a lot of divisions and subsets but a lot of what we’re seeing with far right groups boils down to race war. That is still their guiding star, even on the far right. They don’t see themselves as supporting the far right and they recoil when they are accused of being Fascists or Nazis.

“Some may talk more about natives and immigrants and some may focus on non-white people with slurs or Jewish people. But they are bonded by similar symbols, like national flags, often the monarchy and in many cases they will be drawn to the same cause.”

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Feldman, Emeritus Professor in the modern history of ideas at Teesside University, said many are seduced by the “great replacement theory” – a debunked conspiracy theory about white people being replaced by Muslim “invaders”.

And he said social media helps people from different parts of the UK find each other using more sanitised language. The result can be normalisation of far-right goals. Here are some of the groups and activists accused of driving Scotland’s far-right movement.

Unite the Clans, formerly Aberdeen Against Illegal Migration

With more than 65,000 Facebook followers and UK-wide amplification enabled by links to other groups, UTC is possibly Scotland’s most cohesive group.

It has united people for big, angry protest events in places like Glasgow and Edinburgh. Early AAIM events gave a microphone to John Carr, a member of the fascist Homeland Party, which led to the rampant spreading of the “great replacement theory”.

Core members have included Patriotic Alternative member Geoffrey Farquharson and Josh Fernie, another Homeland Party member.

The group faced heavy criticism when it launched an anti-immigration protest outside a primary school in Seaton, Aberdeen during school hours. Father and son John Hall Snr and John Hall Jnr have been integral to the group.

Alex Cairnie and the Spartan Child Protection Team

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Despite their methods being criticised, the group have been credited with bringing many vile offenders to justice and acted as a deterrent to others.

His efforts to call out housing chiefs who have housed known offenders in council schemes have struck a chord with people living in such communities. But he has courted controversy by conflating his paedophile hunting with race politics, notably when by teaming up with Craig Houston to protest about adult English lessons at a school in deprived Dalmarnock, Glasgow.

Anti-racism groups accused the pair of “spreading misinformation”. Last September Cairnie praised Tommy Robinson, calling him “a British Patriot and a man that loves his country”. Cairnie has vocally supported influencer Andrew Tate, even after he was charged with multiple rapes.

Craig Houston

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Houston makes a living by peddling stories on YouTube that blame immigration for Scotland’s woes.

He has travelled from town to town, armed with a selfie stick and a drone, to catalogue many conspiracy theories about immigration, “two-tier policing” and alleged “white racism”.

He has repeatedly referred to street armies potentially “rising” due to anti-immigration anger. In his videos, including those shot from the heart of volatile far right demos, Houston puzzles over the scenes witnessed and generally puts the blame on immigration.

It was Houston who filmed a series of eerie black and white videos that featured grown men in black clothing laying wreaths at locations that included the Scottish Parliament and the Daily Record’s office in Glasgow. Houston is best friends with Sandy Chugg, a notorious Rangers casual who has been jailed several times for football related violence.

His activities caught the interest of anti-terror cops – who seized his phone and computer at Edinburgh airport on his return from a recent holiday.

Patriotic Alternative

The political group took a strong grip in Scotland, largely through efforts of Scottish organiser Kenny Smith.

They became regulars at protests in Erskine at a hotel used for asylum seekers. A split within PA led to the formation of the Homeland Party, run by Smith.

The main public face of PA is now Richard McFarlane, who travels Scotland with a stuffed toy he calls Scooby Doo. McFarlane is regarded as a serious threat to communities due to his willingness to fabricate signs and banners depicting divisive messages like “Stop the Invasion”.

The organisation was founded by Mark Collett, a former publicity director for the British National Party.

Voices for Falkirk/Freedom Patriots

Falkirk became a major focal point due to The Cladhan Hotel being used for refugees.

A brutal sex attack by a hotel resident enraged the local community and the campaign led to the cessation of the use the hotel for immigration cases.

Reform councillor Claire Mackie-Brown and Julie Reilly a key figure in Voices For Falkirk, have stood alongside men in masks and members of the ultra right Homeland Party and Patriotic Alternative.

Mark Sinclair (Freedom Dad)

The former UVF bank robber has travelled around Northern Ireland and England to seek out examples of immigration causing local division. His Freedom Dad YouTube channel– emblazoned with a Northern Irish and a Scottish flag – explicitly seeks to connect Scotland and Ulster’s antiimmigration communities.

He was part of a travelling band of Loyalists who took part on the July25 demo at Glasgow Green that saw running battles and 15 arrests. Sinclair has offered a platform to a wide array of far-right icons, including BNP leader Nick Griffin and his ex-deputy Jim Dowson, a regular guest.

Griffin has told Sinclair that Northern Ireland is ripe for a citizen army to rise, due to the lessons learned by the Loyalist community during the Troubles. He tells Sinclair that Orange Order marches have provided evidence that an army of fighting men could be called on if the time comes.

Sinclair has toured towns and cities with close pal Glen Kane – a sectarian killer who was jailed for a mob attack. He has also been photographed on many occasions with Neil Pinkerton, an “urban hunter” who has rejoiced in his dogs killing foxes. Pinkerton was the leader of a Belfast street patrol that has been accused of persecuting immigrants.

Jim Dowson, far-right activist and frontman of Knights Templar International

The veteran far-right activist has raised a huge sum of cash over many years by peddling tat including white robes, swords and far-right books for his organisation – which has nothing to do with the historic Christian crusaders.

Dowson calls his KTI group – of men in little more than fancy dress – a “fighting order”. He admitted his visit to Glasgow on July 25was his first in 20 years. He used the occasion to reveal his true motivation, shooting videos that played to a US audience, telling them how Glasgow was “teeming with Africans”.

Dowson shamelessly got out his virtual begging bowl, asking US donors to aid the people in the Scottish “projects”. It is unclear how US dollars donated to Dowson would help anyone in Scotland.

On the visit, Dowson reverted to his familiar play of handing out military style gear to vigilante groups, including the Scots Active group, who accepted stab vests and bodycams to deal with threats that might emerge as they patrol Glasgow’s streets.

Scots Active

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Along with the North to South group, they have trawled the streets looking for women to “save” from immigrants.

Despite filming everything for Tik Tok, the videos contain more evidence of black people being harassed than anyone being saved from violence.

Scots Active leader Darren Docherty claims to be anti-racist. But a Record investigation revealed him to be a moderator of a sinister WhatsApp group under the banner ‘Get These C****Out!’. They clashed with cops, targeted ethnic minorities, and made Nazi salutes at a Glasgow demo on June 13.

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Wayne Rooney believes Gabriel was ‘extremely lucky’ not to be sent off during Arsenal’s Premier League win over Chelsea.

The reigning champions maintained their perfect start to the new season with a comeback victory over Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea on Sunday.

Chelsea also came into the north London clash with a 100% record and made a superb start, taking the lead inside two minutes through ex-Arsenal target Morgan Rogers.

But Kai Havertz equalised against his former club midway through the first half before Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard netted a second-half winner.

Former Manchester United and England captain Rooney felt Arsenal should have been reduced to ten men just five minutes into the game after Gabriel kicked Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the head.

Several Chelsea players reacted angrily to the incident which left Martinez lying in pain and requiring medical attention.

Chris Kavanagh’s view was obscured by a scramble in the penalty box but VAR did not suggest the referee consult the pitchside monitor for a second look.

Analysing the incident on BBC’s Match of the Day, Rooney said: ‘You don’t really see it at first sight but then when you see a replay and they slow it down…

‘Martinez has got the ball in his hands and Gabriel boots him in the head, he swings a leg and goes way over the top. He’s extremely lucky to stay on the pitch.’

Former England defender Ashley Young added: ‘I agree. When the ball is on the floor and Martinez has it, Gabriel kicks so high.

‘I’m not sure why it hasn’t gone to VAR of if they’ve properly studied it because he’s nowhere the ball. He’s got away with one there.’

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Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his players after the London derby, describing Arsenal’s performance as ‘incredible’.

‘It wasn’t the right start but we certainly reacted in an amazing way,’ Arteta said.

‘I enjoyed the way we competed; we took risks, it was a joy to watch and an incredible game.

‘They [Chelsea] have a great coach [Alonso] who can set them up in great condition. With the quality they have, you feel they can create something out of nothing at any moment.

‘We constrained them well. Overall, it was an incredible performance from our side.’

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On Arsenal’s flawless start to the new season and their title defence, Arteta added: ‘We are very happy and we need to continue to raise the bar and look to improve every single time.

‘There are still a lot of margins to do that. But we need to enjoy the victory now because it was a big one today.’

Arsenal put their Premier League title defence on hold during the week as they begin their Champions League campaign against Serie A side Napoli.

Chelsea, meanwhile, return to action on Wednesday night with a Carabao Cup clash against Leeds United.

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Sections of the A1079 Hull Road are set to close from Monday (September 7).

City of York Council said three miles of the main road, which leads to York’s outer ring road, will be resurfaced as part of the council’s highway maintenance programme.

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It will affect the A1079 between York Road, Dunnington and City of York boundary at Kexby Bridge.

A council spokesperson said: “The works will be carried out by Lane Rentals Services on behalf of the council, who will be working for 14 nights under a road closure between the hours of 8.00pm to 6.00am.

“The road will reopen each morning, unless there are exceptional circumstances.”

Sections of the A1079, between York Road, Dunnington and City of York boundary at Kexby Bridge, will be closed for resurfacing works from Monday (September 7) (Image: Supplied)

The work is to be done in three phases.

Phase one will surface the area from the York Road, Dunnington junction up to the Common Road junction – starting tomorrow at 8pm.

These works will be complete by 6am on Saturday (September 12).

Phase two will include the stretch of road from York Road, Dunnington junction to near Kexby Stray junction with the closure point at Dauby Lane to allow for turning traffic, the council said.

This will be done on the night of Saturday (September 12) and will be finished by 6.00am on Sunday (September 13).

During the project’s third phase, works will continue from the Common Lane junction to the City of York boundary at Kexby Bridge with the closure point at Long Lane to allow for turning traffic.

A council spokesperson said: “This phase is expected to last for eight nights.

“This means the road will be closed between 8.00pm and 6.00am on Sunday 13 September 2026 and finish at 6.00am on Monday 21 September 2026.”

An alternative route for diverted vehicles will be signed during the works period via A1079, A614, A63, A19 and A64.

Cllr Kate Ravilious, executive member for transport, said: “We continue to deliver our record programme of planned Highways Maintenance works for 2026/27 alongside emergency repairs.

“This stretch of the A1079 is the latest to receive significant repairs that will make journeys easier for people in the area and across the region.

“We are working to minimise disruption by carrying out these works on nights and working to reopen the road each morning.

“When the road is closed diversions are in place and we have sent letters to local residents and businesses to help them plan ahead.

“Once complete this will bring smoother and safer journeys for all who use this road and we’re grateful for everyone’s patience while we get this work done”

Residents and businesses can email highway.maintenance@york.gov.uk with any queries.

A new term begins and for those of us committed to sending our darlings to independent schools, it’s back to scrimping, saving and making do.

No, our backs aren’t against the wall, and I’m expecting nothing more than the tiniest of violins, but the 20 per cent VAT addition to fees, plus the cost-of-living squeeze, means we’re feeling the pain acutely.

Even the Royals might be wincing as they wire over £63,000 for Prince George’s first year at Eton.

I reckon I could have bought a house with what I have spent. The problem is, it’s like eating Pringles: once you pop, you just can’t stop.

But there are ways to drive down the list price, as I’ve learnt over my many years of white-knuckle cheque-writing. School fees are like a new car – nobody pays for the add-ons except those for whom money doesn’t matter.

Here’s how the rest of us scrape by…

No parent should pay for Lego Club

Or any club, especially when they’re little. My friend Sarah was hung out to dry by her husband when he discovered she’d been paying extra for little Louis to attend Lego club at their already eye-watering prep.

He could just as easily have clicked a Lego Quidditch broom into a minifigure’s hand at home, of course. Ditto art club, Minecraft club and dance club. If you can do it at home, never, ever pay.

Remember: they can’t do any nice clubs if they’re no longer attending the school because you’ve overspent on after-hours luxuries.

Gourmet lunch? Ham sandwiches will do

Lunch doesn’t need to be five-star. Add-on catering at day schools can run to hundreds of pounds a term, but many allow you to opt out.

A friend who shall remain nameless sent her son off to prep school with a ham sandwich and a flapjack in his sister’s pink lunch box. He survived.

Go ‘vintage’ with uniform and kit

Every school has a second-hand shop or a nearly new sale. Go early, be ruthless, and buy a size up.

Nobody ever needs to pay full-price for an expensive new uniform, plus it’s naff to wear it. My 81-year-old father, who went to the same school as my 17-year-old, offered him his old cricket blazer. It was moth-eaten and nothing like the new version. My son got a high-five for wearing a ‘vintage’ number.

Sneaky sibling discount trick

Most schools apply them to the youngest child, so the saving only kicks in years later. If you’re committed to the school long-term, ask for if it can be applied to the eldest instead, so you save from day one and on the higher senior school fees.

Blag free holidays or stay with relatives

Yes, their classmates will be going to Provence or the Galapagos, but if you can provide access to a hellishly noisy beachside arcade, you’ll have satisfied the under-tens.

Great Aunt Mary, whose house on the Suffolk coast you’ve installed your brood in, will of course cook cottage pie on repeat. But you don’t care because every night there is another night you’re not paying for Center Parcs.

When you’re already paying thousands for their education, a family camping trip instead of three weeks in the Galapagos will do wonders for your bank account

Say no to FOMO, hide school trip letters

School trips are verboten. Hockey in Peru, £3,000. Trekking in Costa Rica, £4,000. Even Gold DofE in the Cairngorms at £400 gets an immediate je ne pense pas. Hide the letters and hold firm when they protest. They’ll understand the term properly when the bailiffs come knocking.

With four months off, let them go feral

Independent school holidays run to four months of the year-plus, which is a lot of weeks to fill even if you are at the relatives for half of it. And filling weeks costs money.

Remind yourself that letting them ‘go feral’ and entertain themselves is character- building. Who wants a helicopter mum anyway?

Dog walks are free. A football is a fine birthday present and a muddy garden is a small price to pay. I know one mum who sends her 12-year-old off with a friend on long ‘explore the Tube map’ trips.

Avoid cinemas, theatres and theme parks at all costs.

Slip on shades and off to Aldi you go

Downgrade your supermarket. M&S and Waitrose is for those who wisely chose to go down the grammar route.

Put on dark glasses and hop into Aldi or Lidl. I have bumped into many a grand family in the middle aisle, eyes agog over Tupperware, wiring tens of thousands to a boarding school with one hand and shovelling own-brand beans into the trolley with the other.

Haggle if they’re boarding… or cry

Never pay the list price. Full boarding at £21,690 a term for the big guns is a starting position. Explore every scholarship going, especially the more obscure ones.

Who knew there were awards for chess, dance and product design, but there are. Some Scottish schools even offer them for bagpipes.

If all that fails, slide up to the Head and ask about a discretionary award. Cry – do whatever it takes! I have it on good authority… it works.

Australians would be able to switch off social media algorithms under draft legislation to be proposed this week.

Communications Minister Anika Wells, who last year helmed the government’s world-first social media ban for under-16s, said the digital duty of care laws would ensure “some basic safety protections on an industry that hasn’t had to observe it”.

If tech firms such as Meta, Google and TikTok did not give the option to turn off algorithms, they should face “substantial” penalties, she said.

Some members of the opposition have criticised the proposal, with Liberal Party leader Angus Taylor saying he was “highly sceptical” and arguing the move could amount to censorship.

The government will be taking “expert advice” on whether users would have to opt in or out of the algorithms feeding them content online, Wells said.

This means that, as with its social media ban, the government is looking to bring in legislation before fully hammering out the specifics of how it would work.

“We want to give Australians more choice over what they see on their social media feeds,” Wells told the ABC on Monday.

“We know that a lot of Australians appreciate the algorithm both for the enjoyment they get out of it or the utility that they get out of it, seeing local businesses in their suburb.

“A lot of Australians will want to choose the algorithm. But we think that big tech should offer them the choice in the first place and they should respect that choice.

“Big tech is not a protected species and they should offer their customers basic safety standards.”

But she admitted that so far no tech firm had been fined for not enforcing the social media ban, despite research consistently showing that the vast majority of under 16s who were on platforms before the ban was introduced last December, still use them.

Some members of the opposition have said they support the idea in principle, but others argue it is an attempt to curtail freedom of speech.

Taylor told News24 he feared this was “an attempt by the government to censor social media” and that Labor should first try to plug holes in the social media ban.

Speaking to Channel Nine’s Today show, Wells said: “This isn’t about censorship. This is about identifying risks or making big tech identify the risks on their own platform and making big tech mitigate against those risks on their platform.”

Last week, high-profile consent advocate Chanel Contos gave a speech at Australia’s National Press Club calling on the government to seek an opt-in for algorithmic social media feeds, making it harder for tech firms to find a way round any reforms.

She argued algorithms were fuelling the prevalence of sexual violence in Australia and exposing young people to misogynistic “manosphere” material.

The draft legislation is expected to be introduced in the coming days. As well as addressing algorithms, it is also expected to put an onus on platforms to stop harmful content, such as illegal pornography and videos promoting disordered eating, from being shared.

In an explosive interview former paramilitary boss Adair claims he wants to get involved with groups targeting immigration.

Feared former UDA paramilitary boss Johnny “ Mad Dog” Adair wants to make a return to frontline politics to target illegal immigrants.

The move follows a series of Daily Record reports on attempts by far right groups in Scotland to team up with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland in a bid to exploit racial tensions.

Adair now lives in Troon, Ayrshire, after being linked to dozens of sectarian killings by the Belfast C Company of the UDA that he led.

However in an explosive interview Adair claims he wants to get involved with groups targeting immigration.

He said: “The threat that is coming is not republicanism the threat is illegal immigration.

“These people will rape, they will kill, they will steal and they have no common value of life.”

He said: “Would I go back and fight for them, yes I would absolutely.

“Would I use the experience that I used back in the conflict. Yes absolutely.

“People need to stand up and counted before it is too late.”

Speaking to Glasgow street photographer Brian Anderson for his Naked City youtube channel Adair says the only thing that brings back memories of his sectarian past is the day of Old Firm games

He added: ”The pit of your stomach will go. Thankfully it’s not bombs and guns but just banter.”

Adair says he is just an ordinary person now but feels he has been tarred with the “Mad Dog” label.

He added: ”That is a name and I hate it. I had no control over that.

“Away from that horrible name I am just Johnny Adair living a quiet and peaceful life, no hassle and it’s great and I love it.

“I have got a 15 year old son and he lives with me.

“Troon is a quiet seaside town and people just accept me for who I am.

“I am just grateful and happy that someone was looking over me because there were multiple attempts on on my life and I survived every one.

“Now I don’t have to worry about things like that albeit I still take some security precautions – like checking my car for a bomb”

Though Adair was feared during the Troubles by the Northern Ireland Catholic community, he admits in the same interview that some of his best pals growing up were Catholic.

He also reveals respect for the IRA hunger strikers of the early 1980’s.

Adair explained: “When I was a young boy under the age of ten my friends were Catholics, we lived in the same streets

“There was no such thing as a religion.

“It didn’t mean anything to me that your mate is a catholic or protestant.”

Adair said things began to change around 1969 and remembers houses in his street being set on fire

He added:” I learned later that day that the people that were burned down were Catholics and some of them were my friends.

“And the same happened in other areas that were predominantly Catholic, to Protestants.

“Then the army was sent for and it the just blew out after that.

“As a kid you were seeing things you had never seen before tanks on the street and soldiers with guns.

“It was interesting for a young boy but also scary and frightening.

“The trouble exploded throughout the province and almost every area was at war with one another. Catholic and Protestant.”

Adair said he decided to join the paramilitaries in the late 1970’s.

He quickly became a target for the police and recalls having his home searched during raids for guns and explosives and being held for questioning for up to seven days at a time.

Adair also recalled the time when he was the victim of an assassination attempt while attending a UB40 concert in Belfast in 1999 with his wife and narrowly escaped with his life.

He added:”I was just out of jail and UB40 was a band that I loved.

“They shot me at point blank range.

“I thought my head was going to explode.

“The pain for that second was the worst pain I have ever experienced.

“It went in but it didn’t go through the skull but just stopped there.

“I was lucky. Had it been a half decent weapon my brains would have been everywhere.”

Adair says the attack was not the work of rival republicans but local drug dealers who saw an opportunity to kill him.

He added: ”I was the devil over there, the bogeyman.

“All Catholics would have hated me.”

Adair says one of the gun gang was later shot dead by the IRA and the man who pulled the trigger took his own life.

He now welcomes the peace process and enjoys his new life in Scotland.

Adair added: ”Until my late 30s I was involved heavily in paramilitarism and loyalism.

“When the life that I was in came to an end and peace came to Northern Ireland there was no more explosions, it was golden to me.

“There was no more hatred, everyone just getting on with life over there.

“There is an uneasy peace but it is great for both communities.

“It’s a long process and will take years. cause there is a lot of bitterness and a lot of hatred.

“For me a normal a life that I never had for most of my years.”

When asked if he ever felt a “moral debt” for what happened “under his watch”, Adair replied.”It is regrettable that the whole conflict took place.

“But I am not feeling guilty for what that I’d done or the role that I played.

“If I was to stay that to you now I would be a hypocrite.

“At the time I believed it was right.

“It is just a shame that it went on for 30 years and all those people lost their lives and people were maimed and thousands of men went to prison.”

When then asked if had ever asked forgiveness from the other side he responded: ”Maybe some dedicated republicans who were engaged the way I would have been engaged will have had begrudging respect towards me as I would have towards the IRA hunger strikers.

“Do I think they would shake my hand and forgive me, I don’t think so.”

Hear the interview in full on https://www.youtube.com/@brianandersonnakedcity

Several Acklam schools will finish early on Monday, September 7, ahead of Theo Rae’s funeral at Teesside Crematorium.

Acklam Whin Primary School and Green Lane School will close at 1.15pm after pupils receive their usual lunch.

Theo Rae, 17 and Cole Robert Worthy, 17. (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

Acklam Grange and Outwood Academy, Acklam will close at 12.15pm, while Newham Bridge Primary School will finish at 1pm.

Acklam Grange will provide more information about future possible closures on Tuesday and Wednesday.

From left to right: Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Michael Robert Cahill, 23. (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

The closures come days after several schools shut early for the funeral of Jakub Matusiak, another victim of the A66 crash. It follows fears of distruption.

Ray was among five men killed when their Volkswagen Passat collided with a marked Cleveland Police vehicle near South Bank on August 22.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were also killed in the crash.

Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38 (Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)

The Passat was travelling the wrong way when it collided with the police vehicle.

Schools’ decision to close early for Jakub’s funeral sparked concern, with politicians questioning why children’s education should be disrupted.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said there were “huge anxieties and worries in the community” and described the situation as a “very difficult and delicate situation”.

She said she wanted schools to stay open but trusted headteachers to protect their pupils.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As Education Secretary, I want schools to be open. I want pupils attending schools all the time.

“And these headteachers of these small number of schools have taken a very difficult decision with the local authority and the police for the safety of their school community to close early.

“What I would say is that there are huge anxieties and worries in the communities.”

Ms Powell said she had contacted local MPs and Home Office ministers to arrange surge policing and extra resources to “calm those tensions down and to make those streets safe”.

She added: “I trust headteachers to make the judgments that they need to make to keep their school community safe. I hope this doesn’t have to happen again.”

Police at the scene of the A66 crash (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

After Jakub’s funeral on Friday, Cleveland Police said the day passed without incident and with minimal traffic disruption.

Superintendent John Wrintmore said: “Today’s events have passed without issue and very minimal traffic disruption.

“Our policing operation to ensure public safety will take the same approach next week when more funerals are taking place.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners to minimise disruption in these areas and keep the public safe.

“No schools, services or businesses have been instructed to close, and any decision to do so has been made by individual organisations after their own risk assessments.

“We would like to thank our communities for their continued cooperation and support. Our visible police presence in the area will continue throughout the week to provide reassurance and allow everyone to continue with their daily lives as normal.”

Theo’s funeral will take place at 2pm on Monday, September 7, at St Bede’s Chapel, Teesside Crematorium, on Acklam Road, Middlesbrough.

Makai Saddington’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, September 8, and Cole Worthy’s will follow at the same crematorium on Wednesday, September 9.

The funerals of the officers are also set to take place next week.

TEMASCALCINGO, Mexico (AP) — Pyrotechnic material exploded during the festival for a patron saint in a town in Mexico State, collapsing a wall, killing at least 10 people and injuring another 64, Mexican authorities said.

The explosion occurred Saturday night next to the Nuestra Señora de la Luz church in Temascalcingo, a municipality in central Mexico with 66,000 residents. Hundreds of them were preparing to watch a fireworks display that is part of a religious festival when the blast occurred.

The municipality is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Mexico City.

The cause of the explosion has not been determined and the Mexico State Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation.

A local bishop said two priests are among the injured.

A video on social media shows the aftermath of the blast, with dozens of people walking through smoke and debris in search of survivors.

Explosions involving pyrotechnics are common in Mexico, where fireworks are frequently used in street celebrations and religious festivals. Almost four years ago, a powerful fireworks explosion in a village in the municipality of Huejutla, in the central state of Hidalgo, left 17 people injured.

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