Seven people including two police officers died in a ​car crash in northeast England on Saturday ‌after a vehicle heading the wrong way down a major road hit a marked police car, the local police force ​said.

Cleveland Police said the incident occurred around ​3:39 am (0239 GMT) near the South Bank area east of Middlesbrough and that all occupants of ​the two vehicles died at the scene.

“This tragic incident ​will be felt across Cleveland, within our communities and throughout the entire policing family,” Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller ​said.

The police force said it was still investigating ​the circumstances of the crash and was working to formally identify ‌all the people killed.

The incident will be reviewed by Britain's Independent Office for Police Conduct, as is common practice in such cases.

Following two recent head-on crashes near ​Dublin, one ​of which killed five people, Ireland’s police chief this week warned that some young people were ​driving the wrong way on the motorway “for ​social media likes”.

An Irish parliament committee has asked short-form video platform TikTok to explain how it removes content “that appears to ​glorify dangerous and illegal behaviour on ​our roads”. On Tuesday, Ireland's media regulator made a similar request.