TWO Bradford men have been charged over a double death crash in the city.

Ismail Miah aged 22, of Springfield Place, Manningham, and Muhammad Sikder aged 27, of Sylhet Close, Manningham, have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving in connection with the collision, which happened on the A650 Shipley Airedale Road on January 2 this year.

Both men have now been bailed to appear at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates  Court on Tuesday, July 5.

Minicab driver and father-of-three Mirza Abdul Malik, who was 64, and former antiques restorer Paul Hayward, who was 55, were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The road had to be shut while emergency services worked at the scene and traffic had to be diverted away from the area.

Mr Malik and Mr Haywood had been travelling in a Proton Gen-2 GSX minicab when there was a collision with a BMW 330D. A white Range Rover sport was also involved.

A third man, 25, who was a passenger in the BMW, had to be taken to hospital but his injuries were non-life threatening.

Both the drivers of the BMW and Range Rover had been arrested by police on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but were later released on bail pending further enquiries.

Police from the Major Collision Enquiry Team had also appealed for any witnesses to come forward to help them piece the incident’s circumstances together.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said today: “Police have charged two men from Bradford in relation to a fatal road traffic collision in the city.

“Both men have been bailed to appear before Bradford Magistrates on 5 July.

At the time of the two deaths, Sergeant Carl Quinn from West Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Enquiry Team said it had been a tragic incident and told media the victims’ distraught families had asked to be left to grieve in private.

When the inquests opened into the deaths Mr Malik, of Thornbury Avenue, Thornbury, and Mr Haywood, who was living at Oak Lodge Residential Home in Manningham at the time of the incident, the Assistant Bradford Coroner Oliver Longstaff heard how the minicab had been involved in rapid successive collisions with two other vehicles.

Mr Longstaff had then released the men's bodies for funeral arrangements to be made.

More than 500 mourners attended Mr Malik’s funeral, many who knew him and were present to say their final farewells described him as a hard working family man and a popular taxi driver.