Ex-mistress drove lover and rivals off cliff

A spurned mistress drove her lover and his four other women off a cliff after losing a bizarre talent contest to decide who would stay with him.

The Chinese businessman, named only as Fan, apparently needed to reduce his harem after suffering from the world economic downturn.

He decided to make all but one redundant and staged the talent show in a hotel in Qingdao, judged by a local model agency, without telling the women what it was for, the Shanghai Daily reported.

The women were assessed on their looks, their singing and speaking and their ability to drink alcohol.

One, named only as Yu, was knocked out in the first round based on her looks, and a Ms Liu eventually took the crown after she won the drinking contest.

When Fan told Yu she had lost her position and he was selling her apartment, she decided to take revenge.

She invited him and the other four women to tour Laoshan Mountain, a scenic site in Qingdao, before she returned to her home province, then drove through the guard barrier on a mountain road.

She died and the other five were seriously injured.