AN accountant from Blackburn, convicted of causing the death of two girls while texting at the wheel, has dropped his sentence appeal.

Mohmed Salman Patel, then 26, was jailed for six years after his driving claimed the lives of 17-year-old Shelby Maher and Rachel Murphy, 23, at Brockholes Brow.

Patel's legal team had applied for leave to appeal his sentence for a second time, it emerged earlier this year.

A first application for leave to appeal was refused by a single Court of Appeal.

And the Crown Prosecution Service has now confirmed that Patel's second bid has been abandoned.

More than 1,000 people had signed an online petition, urging judges to reject the driver's plea for clemency.

His original Preston Crown Court trial was told the two girls had been crossing the A59, in April 2016, when they were struck by Patel's BMW 3 Series.

Later it emerged that Patel, of Carham Road, had been texting his partner just 42 seconds before the collision.

Prosecutors say the driver did not attempt to swerve or brake in the moments before the crash. One other girl in the group crossing the road was also seriously injured and hospitalised for a week, the court heard.