TRIBUTES have been paid to the couple killed in the M62 crash which closed the busy motorway for most of Wednesday.
Hair salon owner Mark MchHale and his wife Tamsie, from Bishop Auckland in County Durham, were travelling in their white Audi A5 on the westbound carriageway of the M62 close to junction 26 Chain Bar when they were in collision with a HGV just before 6am yesterday morning.
Hundreds of tributes have been left on the facebook page of his business HairHaus, in Bishop Auckland .
In a statement, Kendra Hughes, from the salon, said: "We are all absolutely gutted by what has happened.”
Miss Hughes posted: "Some of you may think this is disrespectful but if you knew him as well as myself and the team he would go absolutely nuts if we shut his shop.
"RIP Boss and Tamsie, you will be massively missed."
Mr McHale, 46, and his wife, 43, died at the scene from their injuries.
The driver of the HGV was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.
The incident led to the M62 being shut for almost 12 hours and saw tens of thousands of motorists stuck in delays and tailbacks.
Police from the Major Collision Enquiry Team (MCET) spent most of the day investigating the incident, which happened at about 5.50am.
The vehicles were cleared from the scene before Highways Agency contractors carried out minor repairs to the carriageway.
Sergeant Garry Alderson, of the Major Collision Enquiry Team, said: "Clearly this was a very serious incident which has sadly resulted in the deaths of the man and woman travelling in the Audi.
"We are conducting a full collision investigation at the scene and obviously this will take time given the seriousness of the incident.
"I would advise drivers to avoid the area if at all possible while recovery work is underway and would ask anyone who saw the incident or either of the vehicles described shortly beforehand to contact the Major Collision Enquiry Team on 01924 293047."
