Five men have been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving during simultaneous dawn raids across the Bradford district.

A team of 20 officers from North Yorkshire Police swooped on houses in Cullingworth, Great Horton, Eccleshill, Bingley and Keighley in connection with a crash which killed solicitor Helen Slater, 37, and her husband Dean, 40.

The couple, of Thornton, Bradford, died after being thrown from their motorbike when it was in collision with a car on the A162 between Tadcaster and Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire.

Police arrested a 28-year-old man at his home in Halifax Road, Cullingworth; a 31-year-old man, of Leafield Crescent, Eccleshill; and a 25-year-old of Etna Street, Great Horton, Bradford, after simultaneous raids at 6.15am yesterday.

Officers also arrested a 28-year-old man, of Ryecroft Avenue, Bingley, and a 36-year-old man, of Clough Fold, Keighley, as part of the operation.

The men were being questioned at police stations in North Yorkshire yesterday in connection with the fatal road crash, which happened on the evening of Wednesday, August 25.

The couple had been travelling on a black Yamaha bike – Mrs Slater riding pillion – in a group of six motorcycles, when they were involved in a collision with a green Vauxhall Vectra travelling in the opposite direction.

Assistant Chief Constable Sue Cross said North Yorkshire Police had taken the unusual step of carrying out the dawn raid as part of the “serious” investigation into the double fatal crash.

ACC Cross, who was at yesterday’s swoop in Cullingworth, said: “These arrests demonstrate how seriously we are taking the issue of motorcyclists losing their lives. This is not about demonising the motorcycling community because I know there are those who use the roads properly, but there are a small minority who do not and drive recklessly.”

She said many of the collisions in North Yorkshire involved riders from across the country, including from West Yorkshire, taking to rural roads on high-powered sports bikes.

The death toll now stands at 20 after a man in his 50s from Liversedge died in a head-on crash with a car near Towton, North Yorkshire, at the weekend.

ACC Cross said: “The message is very clear. We welcome all drivers and riders onto the roads but we will not tolerate them using excessive speed or breaking the law and putting themselves, other road users and pedestrians at risk.”