Seven dead, including two children, in tragic day on North West's motorways

Seven people have been killed in crashes on motorways around the North West. Two children are among those to have lost their lives on a day of tragedy on the region's roads.

In Cumbria, five people, including two children, were killed in a crash on the M6 on Tuesday afternoon. The crash involving a Skoda and a Toyota happened near to Tebay services at about 4.05pm.

Police investigating the crash have now revealed that they received 'multiple reports' that the Skoda had been travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway.

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Officers were en route when further calls reported that the car had been involved in a head on collision with the Toyota, a police spokesman said. The driver of the Skoda, a man from Cambridgeshire, died instantly.

A man, 42, woman, 33, and two boys, seven and 15, that were in the Toyota were also pronounced deceased at the scene. A third boy, also seven, was rushed to hospital where he was today fighting for his life.

All the people in the Toyota are from Glasgow, police said. The force has not confirmed if they were all from the same family.

Later on Tuesday, a man in his 20s died while three others were seriously hurt in a crash on the M61 motorway, near Bolton.

The smash happened on the southbound side of the motorway close to Rivington Services at about 11.40pm. Police said a Citroen C1 car hit a barrier, before then colliding with a Mercedes on the carriageway.

The man - who was a passenger in the Citroen - was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver and another passenger in the car were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

The Mercedes driver was also left seriously hurt. A stretch of the motorway was closed for more than 17 hours following the crash.

An elderly woman has also died after a crash involving a lorry and three cars on the M6, police in Lancashire confirmed today. Emergency services were called to the motorway, near to Galgate, following reports of a road traffic collision on August 5.

The crash, between a blue Ford Fiesta, a Mercedes Sprinter and a Scania R500 lorry happened at 4.13am near to junction 33 of the M6. The woman, 82, who was the driver of the Ford Fiesta was taken to hospital with serious injuries. She later died in hospital on October 8.