A driver was inches from plunging 40 metres off a cliff edge to certain death.

The car was left “hanging over the edge” of Telscombe Cliffs after leaving the coastal road.

Police and coastguards managed to rescue the driver, who miraculously escaped unscathed.

Witness John Carden, 65, of Saltdean, said: “It was so sad to see something like that so close to Christmas.

“Thank goodness no one was hurt.

“It was really unnerving. By the grace of God it could happen to any of us.

“It was at one of the highest points on the cliff. If they had gone over there’s no way they would have survived.”

Police said they were speaking to the driver to establish what happened.

A spokesman for Solent Coastguard said the car left South Coast Road near the junction of Tye Close.

The driver was pulled from the Volvo Saloon and led to safety.

The car was then recovered by police with the help of Newhaven coastguard.

Mr Carden said the car had travelled between 20-30 yards from the road and had broken through a first set of chainlink fence before stopping at a second fence.

The car would have travelled over bunds to reach the cliff’s edge, which is between 32 and 47 metres, coastguards said.

Mr Carden added: “It was only the second fence which stopped it going over.

“We had something like this a couple of years ago.

“Living so close to the cliffs I’ve seen this kind of thing quite a few times.

“There’s no undercliff, it just drops away down to the beach but the sea comes right up.”

In January 2011, 45-year-old Mark Samworth died after his car plunged 300ft over cliffs in the same area on the South Coast Road.

In July 2013 a car plunged from Beachy Head with a lone male occupant inside.