Five police officers have been suspended after two teenagers were killed when a stolen car they were driving crashed while being followed.

The officers are with the Mersey Tunnel Police.

The car, which was travelling at up to 100mph, crashed at the Liverpool exit of the Kingsway Tunnel, which runs beneath the River Mersey.

Darren Franey and Scott Veach, both 14, died when the Vauxhall Vectra they were driving hit a lorry on Saturday.

The incident was referred to the independent Police Complaints Authority (PCA) for investigation.

In a statement, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority said: "This is a tragic accident and this is a precautionary suspension on full pay which does not in any way imply that the officers concerned were at fault.

"We see this as a responsible step at this stage when the precise circumstances of the incident are clarified."

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"We will of course liase further with the officers' trade union representatives, the Police Complaints Authority and Merseyside Police to ensure this matter continues to be dealt with in an appropriate manner."

An inquest into the deaths of the boys, from the Kensington and Broadgreen areas of Liverpool, is yet to be opened.

Police officers were following the car at about 0400 GMT as it entered the Mersey tunnel from the Wirral.

The car driven by the boys - a silver Vauxhall Vectra - was one of two cars followed into the Mersey Tunnel from the Wirral by police.

The boys had to be cut free from the wreckage.

A second Vauxhall Vectra, which went through the tunnel at the same time as the crashed car, was later found abandoned in the Water Street area of Liverpool city centre.