Pc Tom Clough, 38, and Pc Matthew Blades, 37, both died when a Volkswagen Passat hit their marked armed response vehicle

The families of the two officers killed after a car travelling the wrong way along the A66 dual carriageway collided with their police vehicle have issued heartbreaking tributes to the men.

Pc Tom Clough, 38, and Pc Matthew Blades, 37, both died when a Volkswagen Passat, which had been pursued by police, struck their marked armed response vehicle in Teesside in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Five males aged between 17 and 23 who were travelling in the Volkswagen also died in the collision.

PC Clough’s family said in a statement issued by Cleveland Police: “He was our hero with a fantastic of humour. Jumped into action whenever needed, and willing to help anyone for any reason.

“Proudly fought for his country to make the world a better place. Always on public duty throughout his short life.”

The wife of PC Matthew Blades, said: “No words will ever feel like the right words to honour our Matt — my beloved husband, my best friend, and the most devoted father to our two young boys. He was an adored son and brother, a perfect son-in-law, and the most fun uncle.

“He was loved beyond words by all his family and friends, and his loss has left a space that can never be filled. He gave his life in the line of duty, protecting and serving others with courage, dedication and selflessness.

“The pain of losing him is beyond words, and our lives will never be the same. Neither will the love he gave us ever fade.

“Our children will grow up knowing what an incredible father he was and will always be, and I will carry his love, his memory and everything we shared with me always. He may have left this world committed to the duty he believed in, but his greatest legacy will always be the love he gave to his family.

“We would also like to express our deepest gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all of the emergency services and to our police family who have stood beside us through the most difficult time of our lives. The kindness, compassion, love and unwavering support we have received as a family has meant more to us than words could ever express.

“Every message, visit, gesture of support and every person who has stood alongside us will never be forgotten.

“Forever loved. Forever missed. Forever our superhero. Our Matt and Dad.”

The circumstances surrounding PC Clough’s death were referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which confirmed on Sunday that neither PC Blades nor PC Clough had been involved in the original pursuit, but had instead been deployed to the area to assist in locating the Passat.

Cleveland Police had received intelligence relating to “numerous incidents” connected to the Passat, the watchdog stated in its account of events.

The vehicle, which was carrying five occupants and was believed to have been fitted with cloned number plates, was subsequently spotted after the plates triggered an ANPR camera, the IOPC added. An armed response vehicle initiated a chase lasting just under seven minutes before the Passat turned on to the A66 in South Bank, travelling against oncoming traffic.

Officers called off the pursuit and continued along the correct side of the carriageway.

The Passat collided with the vehicle carrying Pc Blades and Pc Clough approximately 10 seconds after the chase was abandoned.

IOPC director of engagement Derrick Campbell extended his sympathies to all those affected, saying: “We recognise the devastating impact the incident has had on those in the force, and the wider policing community, and offer our condolences.

“We have obtained initial accounts of officers involved in the pursuit, the incident log and in-car footage of the incident.

“Work is ongoing to obtain additional material.”

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EastEnders boss Ben Wadey has opened up about Sean Slater’s permanent return to Walford, teasing some big plans for the much-loved character as he comes back to the Square.

Rob Kazinsky is reprising his role as Sean, with the character set to make his comeback after more than a decade away.

Sean has already been a huge presence in EastEnders history, known for his unpredictable behaviour, complicated relationships and ability to cause chaos wherever he goes.

And while fans can expect plenty of the classic Sean when he returns, executive producer Ben Wadey has hinted that there will be some changes as viewers meet him as a 40-year-old man.

Speaking about bringing Sean back permanently, Ben said: ‘Sean is one of those characters who just promises chaos and energy and unpredictability.’

The producer admitted he was a big fan of Sean during his original stint on the BBC soap in the noughties, making the character’s return particularly exciting for him.

‘I was such a big fan in the noughties when he was so prevalent in the show,’ he explained.

Sean’s return also comes at an interesting time for the Slater family, who have remained at the heart of plenty of drama in Walford.

And according to Ben, Sean has enough history with the residents of Albert Square to immediately make an impact.

‘He is arriving at an interesting point for that Slater clan. He has connections all over the place,’ he said.

One of the relationships Ben is particularly interested in revisiting is Sean’s connection with Amy Mitchell (Ellie Dadd).

Sean knew Amy when she was a child and, despite all the years that have passed, that history is something he still remembers.

‘He saw Amy as a child briefly and still holds onto that a little bit,’ Ben teased.

But Amy isn’t the only familiar face Sean has unfinished business with.

His complicated history with Max Branning (Jake Wood) is also set to come back into play, while his relationship with Jack Branning (Scott Maslen) is similarly far from straightforward.

‘He and Max have somewhat of a checkered past. He and Jack are also very complicated,’ Ben revealed.

That means Sean isn’t simply returning to Walford to reconnect with his family – he is stepping straight back into a Square filled with people who already have strong opinions about him.

‘He is one of those characters who can land back into the show and immediately have conflict or love with everyone,’ Ben said.

However, fans shouldn’t expect Sean to be exactly the same man they remember.

With Rob now returning to the role as Sean reaches his forties, Ben is keen to explore what all those years away have done to him.

‘I am interested in who Sean is at this age. As a forty-year-old man,’ he explained.

The good news for viewers is that growing older doesn’t necessarily mean Sean has suddenly become sensible.

Ben is keen to retain the qualities that made him such a memorable character in the first place.

‘Seeing him grow up a little bit, but not too much, because you still want the fun of classic Sean Slater.’

And it sounds like the cast and crew are already enjoying having him back.

Rob has been filming for several weeks, and Ben revealed that seeing the first footage of Sean’s return has been a particularly exciting experience.

‘It’s been great. He’s been filming for a couple of weeks now,’ he said.

‘I get to go in and look at the daily footage, and just looking at some of those early scenes and be like ‘Okay Sean is back’.’

For fans who have been waiting years to see Sean back in Albert Square, that should be music to their ears.

And Ben has promised there is plenty more to come.

‘I cannot wait for you guys to see him. We have very exciting plans.’

So, while Sean may have grown up since his last full-time stint in Walford, it sounds like viewers can still expect the same unpredictable energy that made him such a fan favourite.

The question is, who will be the first person to feel the full force of Sean Slater’s return?

MORE: EastEnders boss drops big flashforward clues that could be the end of Max

MORE: EastEnders boss reveals two returning stars that will ‘drop your jaws’

MORE: EastEnders fans now certain of a Stacey Slater comeback and it would be mega

Richard E Grant has revealed that he “edited” friends out of his life after they avoided him following the death of his wife, Joan Washington.

Washington — a renowned dialect coach — died in 2021, aged 74, eight months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. She and Grant, 69, had been married for 35 years and shared one daughter, Olivia, 37.

In the past, Grant has described how friends would avoid him following Washington’s death to avoid an awkward conversation.

In a new interview with The Times of London, Grant said he would never forgive those who kept their distance during that time.

“I’m very unequivocal, black and white, all or nothing,” he said.

“I’ve tried to go for the grey areas but it’s not succeeded for very long. There are people that have been edited out of my life and I will never see them again. If I had done that to them, I wouldn’t be able to look them in the face.”

“No, portcullis down,” he added. “Goodbye.”

Grant went on to share that he still writes to Washington every night before bed and that the idea of finding companionship again was incomprehensible. “I know it happens but I’ve not had any twinkles of that yet,” he said.

It’s not the first time that Grant has been ruthless about cutting friends out of his life.

Earlier this year, the Withnail and I actor revealed he cut off a friend of 29 years after he was accidentally CC’d on an email filled with “brutal” comments about him.

During a February episode of the Mad, Sad, & Bad podcast, Grant described the person as someone who he “thought was one of the five best friends in my life.”

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“She sent an email from Africa to a mutual friend in Australia who’d asked for my email address, and, because my name was in the body of the email, I got inadvertently sent this email.”

Grant explained that the message “arrived on a day when I had heard for a third time that a film that I’d written and was about to direct, the finances had collapsed. And I was doing the final episode of Frasier,” which aired in May 2004.

He said that the email contained “such toxicity” that he immediately decided to cut off the friendship.

“And I thought, ‘That’s not a real friend anymore.’ And I was absolutely devastated,” Grant said. “So I copied and pasted that and then sent it back. And I said, ‘29 years of friendship?’”

Asked what the offensive comments were about, Grant replied: “It was of my script that I had written, which was entirely autobiographical.” Grant’s 2005 comedy Wah-Wah was loosely based on his own life. “And she had read this script.”

He said that years later, his daughter, now 37, had questioned whether the friendship was really genuine in the first place.

“Our daughter was very smart, because she was 16, so exactly 20 years ago. She said to me, ‘In your heart of hearts, haven’t you always known this about that person?’”

Grant added that the turn of events was “just brutal.”

“Because that person knows you in the most formative part of your life, when you’re still dreaming of getting regular work out there as an actor,” Grant said. “Nevermind the other things that have happened to me since. So when you’re betrayed like that, there’s no going back for me.”

It comes after ‘almost all’ services were cancelled on Sunday including popular routes linking Glasgow and Edinburgh to various cities across England.

CrossCountry said it will run a “full service” on Monday after a power cut resulted in major cancellations across its network. The train operator said a “very limited” number of trains would run from around 6pm on Sunday, with a return to normal service expected on Monday.

A power outage in Birmingham, which started on Saturday, affected the company’s control centre, resulting in many of the systems used to manage the railway being unavailable, the operator said. “Almost all” services were cancelled on Sunday – including popular routes linking Glasgow to Edinburgh, Manchester to Birmingham, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Newcastle to Edinburgh.

A near-normal service was running between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport “due to the impact of planned engineering work”, the company said. A rail replacement bus service remained in place as planned between Leicester and Peterborough.

Two women have been arrested after a three-year-old boy was left fighting for his life in hospital following an incident in Rochdale on Sunday

Two women have been arrested after a three-year-old boy who reportedly fell from a window in Rochdale was left fighting for his life.

The women, aged 19 and 20, were arrested at a property in Blackburn earlier today (Sunday) on suspicion of causing serious injury to a child.

Emergency services were called to Spotland Tops, in the Cutgate area of Rochdale, shortly after 4.15pm on Saturday. Police and paramedics attended the residential estate, and an air ambulance was also seen landing nearby.

The Manchester Evening News, one of our sister titles, understands that the boy fell from a window on the first floor of a property. Greater Manchester Police said on Saturday that the child was taken to hospital and that he was in a critical condition.

In an update on Sunday evening, the force said the child remains in a critical condition and added that “enquiries into the full circumstances around this incident are ongoing”.

On a day when Tyneside and Merseyside united to celebrate Keegan’s contribution to both clubs, Yoane Wissa turned in his best performance yet for Newcastle as £130million man Alexander Isak, the man he was in part bought to replace, suffered a miserable return to St James’ in front of a hostile crowd of 52,630.

Police were called to Dundonald Main Street in Dundonald at around 4.05am on Sunday.

An “unresponsive” man found with injuries on an Ayrshire street in the early hours of this morning has died in hospital. Police were called to Dundonald Main Street at around 4.05am on Sunday August 23.

The 57-year-old injured man was taken to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock where he died a short time later. Police said the man’s family has been informed, and a 36-year-old man has been arrested in connection with assault.

The area is still taped off while a probe into the incident is carried out. Members of the public have been asked to avoid the area.

Pictures of officers in white forensic suits in the street circulated online. A number of emergency service vehicles have also been pictured at the scene.

A police spokesman said: “Around 4.05am on Sunday, 23 August, 2026, we were called to a report of an unresponsive man with injuries on Main Steet in Dundonald. Emergency services attended and the 57-year-old man was taken to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock where he died a short time later. His family is aware.

“The death is currently being treated as unexplained. A 36-year-old man has been arrested in connection with assault and enquiries are ongoing.

“Officers remain in the area and anyone with any information or concerns can approach them. A road closure is in place on Main Street. Please avoid the area if possible.”

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Fans say they couldn’t put down the bestselling novel

If you’re looking for your next summertime obsession, fans of Carley Fortune’s bestselling novel This Summer Will Be Different may already have it lined up for you – and Netflix is about to bring it to screens.

A blurb for the novel teases: “Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother.

“Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night.” Readers have been praising New York Times Bestseller since it landed on shelves back in 2024.

One Goodreads reviewer wrote: “This was even better than I thought it would be. It was one of those books I couldn’t put down but wanted to last forever. I’ve loved all of Carley Fortune’s books so far and I think this is her best one.”

Another admitted: “I DEVOURED THIS BOOK. I read it in 2 days and just simply could not put it down.”

A third reviewer summed it up simply: “This was the perfect, steamy romance book for summer. But one of the things that I loved the most, was the friendship between Bridget and Lucy. More than a romance, this was a story about finding your alternative family.”

Now, Netflix is transforming that much-loved story into a 10-part series. Fortune’s name may already ring a bell because she also penned Every Summer After, which Prime Video recently brought to screens.

An early synopsis reveals the upcoming drama “is a simmering, sun-soaked romance set across multiple summers. It follows a young woman navigating her 20s and her first real love – with her best friend’s brother, the one person she was never supposed to fall for”.

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This lets members watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes hit shows like Stranger Things and The Last of Us.

Netflix has confirmed production on the new series commenced earlier this month, giving audiences ample opportunity to read the source material before the programme arrives on the platform.

Lead character Lucy will be played by Heated Rivalry’s Sophie Nélisse, who portrayed Shane Hollander’s (Hudson Williams) girlfriend and best friend in the HBO series. Meanwhile, Stranger Things’ Francesca Reale has been cast as Lucy’s best friend, Bridget.

The central romantic figure, Felix, will be portrayed by Roby Attal from The Haunting of Bly Manor. Additional cast members of note include Jordan Rodrigues (Lady Bird), Jude Wilson (Fellow Travelers), Natalie Brown (The Strain), and James Tupper (Big Little Lies), reports the Mirror.

Netflix has yet to confirm a release date for This Summer Will Be Different

Pc Tom Clough, 38, died alongside Pc Matthew Blades, 37, when a Volkswagen Passat drove against traffic on the A66 in Teesside and struck their armed response vehicle

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The family of one of two officers killed when a wrong-way vehicle on the A66 dual carriageway collided with their police car have described him as “our hero” who was “always on public duty”.

Pc Tom Clough, 38, lost his life alongside Pc Matthew Blades, 37, when a Volkswagen Passat — which had been in a police pursuit — struck the marked armed response vehicle in Teesside in the early hours of Saturday.

Five males, aged between 17 and 23, travelling in the Volkswagen also perished in the collision.

In a statement released through Cleveland Police, Pc Clough’s family said: “He was our hero with a fantastic of humour. Jumped into action whenever needed, and willing to help anyone for any reason.

“Proudly fought for his country to make the world a better place. Always on public duty throughout his short life.”

The fatal incident was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which confirmed on Sunday that neither Pc Blades nor Pc Clough had been involved in the original pursuit, but had instead been deployed to the area to assist in locating the Passat.

Cleveland Police had received intelligence connecting the Passat to “numerous incidents“, according to the watchdog’s account of events.

The vehicle, believed to have been fitted with cloned number plates and carrying five occupants, was subsequently spotted after the plates triggered an ANPR camera, the IOPC added. An armed response unit initiated a chase lasting just shy of seven minutes before the Passat entered the A66 in South Bank, travelling against oncoming traffic.

Officers halted the pursuit and maintained their course on the proper side of the road.

Approximately 10 seconds following the cessation of the chase, the Passat collided with the vehicle occupied by Pc Blades and Pc Clough.

IOPC director of engagement Derrick Campbell expressed his sympathies to those impacted, stating: “We recognise the devastating impact the incident has had on those in the force, and the wider policing community, and offer our condolences.

“We have obtained initial accounts of officers involved in the pursuit, the incident log and in-car footage of the incident.

“Work is ongoing to obtain additional material.”

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The investigation is ongoing

A police cordon was spotted having been put in place after reports of an assault in Cambridge. Police were called to Barnwell Road in Cambridge on Sunday (August 23).

This was due to a man having been allegedly assaulted. Cambridgeshire Constabulary has confirmed the injuries are consistent with grievous bodily harm (GBH) and the investigation remains ongoing.

A spokesperson for the force confirmed “there is no information to suggest that these individuals pose a risk to the wider public”. No arrests have been made so far and the cordon has since been removed.

A statement issued by a force spokesperson said: “The police cordon was in place due to reports of a male having been assaulted at the location. The injuries are consistent with GBH and the investigation is ongoing.

“No arrests have currently been made. There is no information to suggest that these individuals pose a risk to the wider public, but if there are any witnesses to the incident please call 101 and quote the incident number. The scene/cordon has been removed.”

Cambridgeshire Police has urged any witnesses to the incident to call 101 and quote reference CC-22082026-0464.