A WITNESS who saw a car shortly before it hit and killed a pensioner said it was "an accident waiting to happen".

The inquest into the hit-and-run death, which brought calls for a change in the law, opened yesterday with two men once arrested over the incident coming face to face with the victim's family.

Widower Jimmy Mulligan, 73, died after being struck by a silver Ford Sierra as he waited at a bus stop near his Gateshead home last May.

Witnesses who saw the H-reg car moments before, told the inquest it had been speeding dangerously and sparks were coming off its exhaust as it trailed the ground.

Motorist Lynn Sheriff, of Gateshead, told the inquest the car overtook her at high speed.

She said: "I said to my friend 'that's an accident waiting to happen'."

Other witnesses put the car's speed at between 50mph and 70mph on built-up roads with a 30mph speed limit.

Christopher Eade and Robert Webber, then 18 and 20 respectively, were arrested and questioned by police but no charges were brought.

Both denied driving the car and neither would admit who was at the wheel.

That sparked a campaign that led to an 8,000-signature petition being delivered to Downing Street calling for a change in the law.

Both men, from Gateshead, attended the inquest.

The Crown Prosecution Service has previously sympathised with the family of Mr Mulligan but said the case could not proceed against the two arrested because there was not enough evidence.

They are considering a private prosecution, depending on the outcome of the inquest.

Mr Mulligan, a father-of-four, who had nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, was a popular figure in the Windy Nook area of Gateshead, where he was active with Neighbourhood Watch.

Gateshead coroner Terence Carney, sitting at neighbouring South Tyneside Magistrates' Court, stressed to Mr Mulligan's family he was not there to determine guilt or apportion blame.

He said: ''I am aware of the sense of frustration and injustice which might have been engendered by decisions that have been taken in the past.

''It is not part of my duties to determine guilt or innocence or issues of civil liabilities.

''The process is not designed to determine how a person came by their death in the context of who is guilty of their death.''

Mr Carney said that he invited Mr Webber and Mr Eade to attend the inquest "in their own interests".

The hearing, which was adjourned until tomorrow, is expected to last all week.