A leisure park employee became the seventh person to be killed on the roads of Sussex - the most deadly month of the year – after an accident which also left another man in hospital.

The 35-year-old died and a colleague was seriously injured after being hit by a lorry as they crossed the A26 at the junction of Avis Road near Newhaven.

The pair, who worked at Paradise Park, were struck by the heavy goods vehicle shortly after 10am yesterday.

The 35-year-old , from Newhaven, died at the scene while his 65-year-old colleague, from Bishopstone, was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton with serious injuries.

The driver of a red dropside DAF lorry, who was from Kent, was unhurt. He was driving south on the A26 when the incident occurred.

The leisure park, which features a garden centre, museum and playground, is just metres from the crash site and both men were believed to be working at the time of the accident.

The A26 was closed for five hours from the A27 at Beddingham Roundabout to the A259, South Heighton.

Paradise Park bosses said they could not comment but added that it was a “distressing time”.

Earlier in the week, four people died on the roads in Sussex in three crashes.

Denise Osborne, 67, of Buckland, Surrey, died after her Mini Cooper was involved in a head-on smash with a Vauxhall Vivaro on the A281 at Bucks Green near Horsham on Monday.

Her front seat passenger, a 75-year-old man also from Betchworth, suffered serious injuries and was flown to St George's Hospital, Tooting. His condition is described as serious but stable.

A 17-year-old from Surrey, who was driving the van, suffered minor injuries. He was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released on bail until February 11.

The next day Andrea Gada, five was hit by a Ford Fusion in Friday Street, Eastbourne.

The tot, of Downland Close, Eastbourne, was also taken to St George’s Hospital, Tooting, by air ambulance but died on Wednesday night.

Also on Wednesday night, friends Matt Preece, 21, and Marc Martin, 22, were killed when the BMW they were travelling in crashed in High Beeches Lane, Handcross.

The driver, a 20-year-old from Lindfield, was seriously injured while another passenger, a 16-year-old from Haywards Heath, suffered minor injuries.

Two more people died earlier this month.

Mike Dixon, 65, was cycling south in Kerves Lane, Horsham, when he was struck and killed by a silver Citroen shortly before 11am on December 8.

A 79-year-old man died in hospital after suffering a medical episode at the wheel in Turners Hill Road, Crawley, at 10pm on December 4.

The incidents have made December the worst month for road deaths this year. There were six deaths in July.