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A series of violent incidents happened after the A66 crashed on Saturday, with hundreds of police officers being drafted to Middlesbrough

Police are not linking the house fire which killed a seven-year-old girl and her aunt to the A66 crash, Cleveland Constabulary has confirmed.

Valentina Foster, 7, and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, were killed in a fire in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown on Wednesday.

The fire, in which two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder for, happened within two miles of the A66 crash on Saturday, in which two police officers and five others lost their lives.

A VW Passat collided with a marked police car after it drove the wrong way down the A-road near South Bank in the early hours of Saturday morning.

PC Matthew Blades, 37 and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed, as well as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and 17-year-olds Theo Rae and Cole Robert Worthy.

A couple of days later, the fatal house fire happened, as well as a 39-year-old man was stabbed and a house rammed yesterday.

Police suspected the incidents were gang-related as tensions rise in Middlesbrough following the crash on Saturday.

However, Cleveland Constabulary has now confirmed they are not linking the incidents.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Sutherland: "Since the tragic incident last Saturday morning in which seven people, including two of our serving police officers, Pc Matthew Blades and Pc Tom Clough, sadly lost their lives, officers and staff have remained working around the clock to continue to serve the public of Cleveland.

"In the same week, we have also seen a tragic house fire on Wednesday in which two people lost their lives, which is also understandably impacting the force and our local communities.

"At this time, we are not linking this incident to the fatal collision on the A66.

"Our thoughts remain with all those affected by these incidents as we continue our investigations into what happened."

Josh Kirton, Ms McDonald’s brother, said yesterday: "My sister was not involved with anything to do with gangs, or the A66 crash. That’s what makes this so senseless.

"People think they can do whatever they like. There’s some terrible people in the world and now my sister and Valentina have gone."

Hundreds of armed police have descended on Middlesbrough following the incidents, which has left locals "feeling frightened".

Redcar's MP Anna Turley said she had been briefed by the Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, Victoria Fuller, who wanted to reassure the public that adequate resourcing of law enforcement was in place.

She said: "People are feeling frightened in their communities, and I’ve just come from a really important briefing with the chief constable, who said that ‘I really want to reassure people that we have all the resources we need’.

"We have over 200 extra officers from all across the country who’ve come in and who are doing everything they can, and we’ve seen from the number of arrests so far already that they are taking action.

"They are keeping our communities safe, and they want us to feel reassured going forward."

Outside of central London, Middlesbrough has the highest crime rate in England, with criminal groups and activity being rife in the town.

"These resources will be here for some time, and then the conversation should start about what we need to do going forward."

The 39-year-old who was stabbed yesterday on the Banksfield estate in Eston, south east of Middlesbrough, remains in hospital.

Cleveland Police are yet to confirm whether they are linking this incident to the A66, or the house ramming that occurred an hour before the A66 crash.

The property, who belonged to the father of one of the killed joyriders, was rammed with an SUV.