A man and woman have died after a crash on the M6 at Preston during Sunday evening.

Preston Police confirmed a the pair died after a four-car collision involving a car transporter close to Junction 31A.

A 58-year-old woman, who was driving a Vauxhall Vectra, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was from Lancaster.

Her passenger, a 57-year-old man from Lancaster, was taken to Royal Preston Hospital after being cut from the car. He died a short time later.

Police later named the couple as Patricia Howard and her husband David Howard.

The crash, which closed the M6 for six hours from Junction 31 northbound, involved an Audi A4, a Volkswagen transporter and a Citreon CV Athena.

Police have arrested five people, who were in the Audi, on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and they remain in custody.

The occupants of the Audi had made off from the scene around 10pm on Sunday but were arrested later by police.

The driver of the Volkswagen, a 47-year-old man from Ulverston and the driver of the Citreon, a 70-year-old man from Galgate, were not injured.

Sergeant Dave Hurst said: “These are tragic circumstances and my thoughts are very much with the man and woman involved at this sad time.

“We are appealing for information following the collision and if you saw what happened and have yet to speak to police, please come forward.

“Anyone with information can contact police on 101 quoting log reference 1407 of November 11.”

Two men aged 22 and 24, from Wakefield, a 21-year-old woman from Abergavenny and a 24-year-old man from Ossett, West Yorkshire, have been arrested. An 18-year-old woman was also initially arrested but has since been taken to hospital having suffered a broken arm.