A MOTORIST who claimed he was blinded by the setting sun before a high-speed crash has been cleared of causing his girlfriend's death.

James Andrew Kitchen, 22, and Rachael Anne Hardwick, 23, had spent the day together on a trip to Scarborough and Whitby, and were returning home when the accident happened.

Yesterday, a jury at York Crown Court acquitted Mr Kitchen, of Lennox Drive, Lupsett, Wakefield, of causing death by dangerous driving on the A64 coast road at the Fulford interchange, York, on July 31 last year. The court heard that Rachael, of High Ridge Road, Rothwell, near Leeds, died from a broken neck after her boyfriend's Citroen Saxo swerved out of control when confronted by a slow-moving car on tow.

Mr Kitchen, who had been taught to drive by a police advanced driving instructor, said that as he went to overtake he was blinded by a flash of bright sunlight, which seemed to have been reflected from the rear of the towed car.

He was also cleared of an alternative offence of careless driving.