THE inquest into the death of a man who was involved in a car crash that killed five people including two children on the M6 near Tebay has been opened.

Assistant Coroner for Cumbria Ms Margaret Taylor said Richard Woods, 40, had been driving his car the wrong way on the northbound carriageway of the M6 between Junction 38 and 39 near Tebay at 4.04pm on October 15, 2024.

Ms Taylor said: "He was driving the wrong way down the motorway when he collided with a Toyota motor vehicle containing other occupants who died at the scene alongside Mr Woods."

During the brief hearing at Cockermouth Coroner's Court, Ms Taylor said that Mr Woods was a flight instructor by occupation, who lived in Cambridgeshire but was born in Northumberland.

Ms Taylor adjourned the hearing until further inquiries are made and set a preliminary hearing date of March 27, 2025.

Four people in the Toyota also died.

The driver of the Toyota was named as Jaroslaw Rossa, aged 42, of Glasgow.

Also in the vehicle were two of his sons, Filip Rossa, aged 15, and Dominic Rossa, aged seven, both of east Glasgow, and Jade McEnroe, aged 33, also of Glasgow.

Her son, Arran, aged seven, was also in the vehicle and was taken to hospital where he remains with serious injuries.