MALAYSIAN driver Yew Wong finished third in the Peking to Paris vintage rally before screeching to a halt in East Lancashire to raise money for an orphanage in his home country.

Mr Wong, who was awarded a bronze medal after competing against 99 drivers in the 12,000 mile rally, has been staying with friends Letizia and Richard Stephenson, who live in Primrose Road, Clitheroe.

The Stephensons went to see the last stage of the 45-day rally in Paris on Saturday and then drove back to Clitheroe in their Jaguar alongside Mr Wong, 56, who was driving his 1954 MGA.

They arrived in Lancashire last Monday but Mr Wong, 56, was too late to give a planned lecture on the rally to pupils at Stonyhurst College, Hurst Green, who had finished for half-term.

The pupils followed Mr Wong's rally progress on the Internet and have also have raised cash for the orphanage in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Wong left the vintage car for pupils to view when they returned from their break and has arranged for the vehicle to be put in a compound and flown back to Malaysia.

His son Win, 25, and daughters Chiu, 30, and Maylyn, 28, were navigators for the rally and travelled with him to Lancashire.

He said: "We went from below freezing temperatures in the Himalayas to 54 degrees centigrade in Iran. We went through rivers, on dangerous, windy mountain roads and through sandstorms.

"People said my car wouldn't make it but it did. I'm happy I came third.

"It was fun and adventurous.

"I saw a lot of places and met a lot of different people."

Mrs Stephenson, who us Italian, said: "My husband and I met Mr Wong when we worked in Kuala Lumpur.

"He thought it would be a good opportunity after the rally to visit us and raise money for the orphanage."

She added: "Coming third in the rally is a great achievement.

"He was disappointed he could not meet the Stonyhurst College pupils but they will get to see the car."

Mr Wong and his children have now flown back to Kuala Lumpur.

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