A lorry driver has been charged in connection with the deaths of two cyclists from an Aberdeen-based global finance firm.
Andrew McMenigall, 47, and Toby Wallace, 36, who worked for Aberdeen Asset Management, were struck on the A30 Land’s End-London road near Newquay in Cornwall in July 2013.
The pair were 40 miles into the 960-mile bike ride to raise money for two charities.
They died in the crash with a white Renault lorry at about 8.30am on July 2.
Devon and Cornwall Police arrested the driver of the lorry on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He was later released on bail.
The force announced yesterday that Robert Palmer, 32, from Bude, Cornwall, had been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
Palmer has also been charged with a further count of dangerous driving in relation to another crash on September 21 2013, on the A30 near Okehampton.
He has been released on bail to appear at Bodmin Magistrates Court on June 3, a police spokesman said.
Originally from Philadelphia, Mr Wallace married Banchory woman Claire Barker on Deeside in 2005.
He was part of an eight-man team who rowed across the Atlantic in 2012 to raise money for charity.
Mr McMenigall, from Edinburgh, was married with two daughters and was a keen triathlete. He had previously served as an officer in the Army before joining AAM.
The aim of the bike ride was to raise money for the Kirsten Scott Memorial Trust, named after a 25-year-old colleague who died from cancer in 2011.
Mr McMenigall was also raising money for It’s Good 2 Give, an Edinburgh-based charity that offers support to people with cancer and their families.
One of his daughters had been diagnosed with and recovered from a brain tumour.
The pair were hoping to raise £10,000 for the two charities. Donations have now reached more than £50,000.
Rhia Weston, road safety campaigner with the cycling charity CTC, said: “We are pleased to see the Crown Prosecution Service has decided on two charges of causing death by dangerous driving.”