A DRIVER has described how a car involved in an A64 crash which ended in the deaths of two young women sped past him, despite his own vehicle travelling at about 100mph.

Taiwanese national Tien Cheng is accused of using “grossly excessive” speeds on a stretch of road near Tadcaster as he headed towards York when the Mercedes CLS he was driving hit the central reservation.

When Jingning Wang, 20, from York, and 21-year-old Quan Qin, who were both passengers in the rear of the vehicle, got out, they were hit by a passing red Mazda and killed.

Cheng, 28, of Redcliffe Parade West, Bristol, admits dangerous driving in the early hours of November 29 last year, but denies causing the deaths of both women by dangerous driving.

The Mazda’s driver, Kevin McGregor, 40, of Gladstone Street, Acomb, York, has admitted hitting the women, but denies causing their deaths through careless or inconsiderate driving. The trial of the two men at York Crown Court yesterday heard Cetin Koroglu, who was driving back to York in his Mercedes with two friends after visiting a Leeds casino, say he was travelling at 100mph on the wet road when Cheng overtook.

“I saw lights in the mirror and the car passed me seconds later,” he said. “I turned to my friend and said ‘He must be doing 120mph -140mph.

“I was shocked because he was going really fast.”

Within minutes, Mr Koroglu said he saw Cheng’s car stopped in the road with smoke coming from the engine and pulled up alongside it.

“After getting out, I saw bodies in the road, and several minutes later I saw the red Mazda,” he said.

Taxi driver Keith Hampton, who was returning to York after taking two passengers to Tadcaster when he stopped at the spot where the Mercedes had crashed, told the court it “looked empty” and the front end was damaged.

He said: “I could see what appeared to be two people laid on the left side of the road, with two or three people looking over them.”

The trial continues.