Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick was charged on Sunday with causing the death of two children by dangerous driving after a fatal car crash in northern England.

The 24-year-old Championship side (second division) player, who was unhurt in the collision, will appear before magistrates in Stoke-on-Trent on Monday.

He was also charged with driving with excess alcohol and driving without insurance, police said.

McCormick is a former England youth international and has twice been named Plymouth's young player of the season, according to the club's website.

Police appealed for witnesses to the collision between McCormick's black Range Rover and a Toyota Previa just before 6:00 a.m. British time on Saturday near Junction 16 on the southbound carriageway of the M6 motorway near Stoke.

Arron Peak, 10, and his brother Ben, 8, died after the Toyota left the road and went down an embankment hitting several trees on the way.

Their 37-year-old father Philip Peak was seriously injured and remains in hospital.

The boys' mother, Amanda Peak, was too overcome to speak at a televised police briefing on Sunday. In a statement read out on her behalf she said: "Nothing will ever compensate us for the loss we are feeling".

Three other passengers in the Toyota - a man and two boys aged eight and 15 - were slightly injured.