RACING motorists reached speeds of around 100mph before one of them smashed into a bus stop, killing former Stourbridge student Rebecca McManus, a court heard.

Witnesses said their vehicles “shook” as Sukvinder Mannan and Inderjit Singh raced past them in their high-powered cars along the 40mph Hagley Road West, in Quinton.

The 21-year-old, who passed four A-levels at King Edward VI Sixth Form College, was on her way to celebrate a hen party in Birmingham on May 31, 2014, when she was struck by a Mitsubishi car driven by Mannan, from Halesowen.

Miss McManus, from Oldbury, who was studying literature, drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, died at the scene and her friend Harriet Barnsley suffered “life changing” injuries.

Mannan, of Roundhills Road, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Miss McManus and serious injury to Miss Barnsley at an earlier hearing.

Singh, aged 31, of Cranbourne Avenue, Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, this week denied the two charges at his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Hugh O’Brien-Quinn, prosecuting, said Singh, who was driving a BMW M3 sports car, and Mannan, had “decided to use the road as their own private race track”.

Singh pulled ahead of the Mitsubishi leaving Mannan having to drive even faster to catch up.

Mannan, a 33-year-old sales rep, then pulled into a bus lane at high speed to undertake the BMW but lost control of his car, mounted the pavement and hit the victims.

The prosecution accepted at the time of the collision Singh had been driving at around 50mph but “by that stage the accident had already started to happen”.

Mr O’Brien-Quinn told the jury it was the act of taking the lead in the race that caused the accident.

The jurors heard how the two drivers overtook and undertook as they hit speeds of 100mph and at one stage their cars were only inches apart from each other.

Car passenger Lindsey Grant said it was like something out of a Fast and Furious film and was so frightened she grabbed the arm of her friend, driver Naomi Knott, as the vehicles sped past them. Miss Knott estimated they were travelling at around 90mph.

Mr O’Brien-Quinn said Singh clearly saw Mannan plough into the bus stop and the two young women but drove off. He was arrested a fortnight later.

The trial continues.