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'People are not feeling safe and feeling trapped in their own homes', Andy McDonald said

A Middlesbrough MP has described the intimidation experienced by residents as “terrorism” amid a week of violence and disorder in the town.

Nine people have died since Saturday, and 19 others have been arrested as police investigate a series of serious incidents, including suspected organised crime, firearms and drugs offences, threats to kill and murder.

Around 200 officers from neighbouring forces have been drafted in to support Cleveland Police - one of the smallest forces in the country - following the deaths of two of its officers and continued violence across the area.

Andy McDonald, MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, said residents were increasingly frightened in their own communities.

“People are going to their shops and not feeling safe and feeling trapped in their own homes,” he told Times Radio.

“That is just unacceptable. This is terrorism and we’ve got to have an appropriate response.”

The crisis began early on Saturday, when a Volkswagen Passat travelling in the wrong direction on the A66 collided with a police vehicle.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed, along with five people in the Passat - Cole Worthy and Theo Rae, both 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Michael Robert Cahill and Jakub Matusiak, both 23.

Police had been pursuing the Passat, but called off the chase after it turned on to the dual carriageway.

It later emerged that the home of Cole Worthy’s father had been rammed around 90 minutes before the fatal crash.

Seventeen people aged between 16 and 61 were arrested on Monday and Tuesday in connection with events preceding the collision.

Suspected offences include participation in an organised crime group, firearms and drugs offences, threats to kill and assisting an offender.

On Wednesday, seven-year-old Valentina Foster and her aunt, 34-year-old Natalie McDonald, died in a house fire.

Two men, aged 23 and 31, were arrested on suspicion of murder.

On Thursday, armed police surrounded a property in Eston after a 39-year-old man was attacked with a bladed weapon, who was taken to hospital, and no arrests had been made.

Earlier, a car repeatedly rammed the wall of an empty house in South Bank, leaving bricks and metal fencing scattered across the garden. No injuries were reported.

Police are investigating possible links between the fire, stabbing, car ramming, and wider organised crime, but have not yet established whether the incidents are connected.

"It’s all part of the same stuff that’s been going down across South Bank and Grangetown for months,” one resident said, adding: “It’s scary and you wonder what’s going to happen next.”

Alec Brown, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council, blamed years of austerity, reduced mental health and family support, drug culture and social media for contributing to the problems.

He called for the Government to convene its emergency Cobra committee, and said local authorities were “waving our hands” for help.

Mr Brown also urged residents to remain calm and allow police to investigate, saying neighbouring forces had “reached out to help” Cleveland Police.

Local MPs met policing minister Sarah Jones on Wednesday to raise concerns about public safety and pressure on police and fire services.

The Prime Minister described the house fire deaths as “utterly devastating”, and said support would be provided to establish what happened.