A horror motorway crash in which five people died – two of them children – was caused when a Skoda travelling in the wrong direction smashed head-on into a car coming the other way, police revealed today.

Officers were contacted at 4.04pm yesterday following reports that the Skoda was travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway of the M6 in Cumbria.

Police were en route to the motorway when tragically further calls were received that it had been involved in a head-on collision with a Toyota, they revealed today.

The driver of the Skoda, a 40-year-old man from Cambridgeshire, was pronounced dead at the scene near Tebay Services.

A 42-year-old man who was driving the Toyota was also pronounced dead along with a 33-year-old woman and two boys aged 15 and 7 who were travelling in the same car, all from Glasgow.

A boy aged seven and also from Glasgow who was in the Toyota was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he today remains in a serious condition, police said.

Formal identification of those involved has not yet taken place but the families of those involved are being supported by specially trained officers.

Cumbria Police today thanked members of the public that assisted at the scene and those affected by the collision for their patience while the motorway was temporarily closed.

A spokesman said: ‘We would also like to thank those that have already been in touch who witnessed or have dashcam of the incident, we continue the appeal to anyone with information or with dashcam to contacts us.’