Rescue workers retrieving a body at Beachy Head watched in horror as another driver drove his car off the cliff.

Coastguards were tending to a casualty on a ledge 400ft below the clifftop when a driver plunged past them in his Toyota 4x4.

Seconds earlier the car had swerved past members of the rescue team on the clifftop who tried to block its path with another vehicle.

The car ended up 550ft below on its roof in the shallow water. Both men were confirmed dead.

The drama intensified after one of the rescue workers had to be scooped to safety by a helicopter after being thrown against the rocks while swimming back from the stricken car.

The double tragedy unfolded on Bank Holiday Monday at 4.30pm.

David Nott, of the Eastbourne Coastguard Rescue Team, was with the body on the ledge when a routine rescue turned into a major incident.

He said: “I was dealing with the casualty that had gone over the cliff.

Some colleagues had gone to the rescue station to pick up some more equipment when they saw the car mount the embankment and drive off the edge. They tried to block its path but the man swerved past them.”

After the car plunged into the sea, the rescue team called the police and lifeboat for assistance. Birling Gap and Newhaven Coastguard rescue teams joined the operation, along with Eastbourne Inshore Lifeboat and the police helicopter.

During the operation two members of the Eastbourne Inshore Lifeboat team swam to shore when their boat was unable to reach the scene. One was thrown against the rocks by the surf, injuring his shoulder. He made it to the beach but had to be rescued by a Coastguard helicopter.

He suffered torn ligaments and bruising .

Eastbourne lifeboat operations manager Paul Metcalfe said: “The coastguard reported a vehicle had driven off the cliff and landed upside down in the sea. They requested Eastbourne’s assistance. The all- weather lifeboat stood guard near Beachy Head while, because of the heavy surf, our inshore lifeboat went further inland to assist. Because high water prevented them landing on the beach, two of our volunteer crew members dived into the sea and swam for the shore to assist the Coastguard in finding out if the driver of the vehicle was alive.”

The remaining rescue workers raced against fading daylight and had to set up lights to complete the operation at 11.30pm.

Sussex Police said neither of the men had been identified. The first casualty is believed to have jumped from the cliff a few days earlier and had been spotted by the police helicopter.

The Toyota is registered to an owner in Oxfordshire.