THE relatives of two of the men seriously injured in the horrific crash near the Bolton/Atherton border have spoken about the tragedy.

As reported in the BEN two Atherton men were killed when a Vauxhall Astra crashed into a wall on Newbrook Road, Over Hulton, early on Saturday.

Paul Neary, 20, of Tyldesley Old Road and Brian Ivill, 19, of Hamilton Street, both died. Fellow passengers Steven Knight, 19, of Ramsey Close, and Mark Taylor, 19, of Douglas Park, were badly injured. Today Steven was "stable but critical" in hospital. Mark was "comfortable".

Steven's brother Colin Knight said: "This tragedy has shocked all of Atherton. Everyone is very sad because it's such a small community. We are praying Steven will pull through. It will destroy us if he doesn't." And Terence Taylor, Mark's dad, said: "Mark was told about his friends dying after he came round from the morphine on Monday night and he is absolutely devastated.

"He realises that he had a close brush with death. The lads used to come round to the house every night and knowing they died is something which takes time to sink in and accept."

Car driver Craig Meadows, 20, of Oxford Road, has appeared before magistrates charged with driving with excess alcohol, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

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