A motorist was killed and four people injured in a pile-up on a Sussex country road at the weekend.

The driver, who was in his 60s and from Oxfordshire, was cut free by firefighters and taken to hospital by helicopter.

He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Eastbourne District General Hospital at noon on Saturday.

His wife, also in her 60s, who was in the passenger seat of the Volkswagen Jetta, was in hospital yesterday with fractures to her wrist, ankle and shoulder.

The driver of a skip carrier, a 54-year-old Brighton man, escaped with minor injuries and was allowed home from hospital after treatment for shock.

A 41-year-old woman from Heathfield and her 19-year-old daughter, who were in a Peugeot, suffered broken legs and were were freed by firefighters.

This morning they were said to be comfortable at the Eastbourne District General Hospital.

The accident happened shortly after 11am when the skip carrier, travelling on the A272 towards Heathfield, was in collision with the two cars travelling in the opposite direction.

The vehicles ended up in a hedge on a country section of the A272 between Buxted and Hadlow Down, north of Uckfield.

The road was closed for five hours.

The accident happened on a stretch of road outside the 40mph speed limit, which applies to the built up sections of the A272, which runs across north-east Sussex.

There have been two serious accidents at the same spot in the past 18 months.

Duncan Galvin-Wright, 35, the owner of Five Chimneys Oast which borders the road, said he had asked for safety measures.

He said: "To allow cars to do 60mph along this stretch and to overtake is asking for trouble. There should be a 40mph limit along this stretch.

"I have lived here for 18 months and in that time there have been two serious accidents close to my property.

"I have asked for a 40mph speed restriction and double white lines to prevent overtaking.

"They will not allow a 40 mph speed limit because they say it is an open country road and they say it is too narrow for double white lines. We will have more accidents like this if something is not done.

"The last accident was in exactly the same spot as this one.

"Cars speed up immediately after they leave Hadlow Down and Buxted thinking this is a fast, safe stretch of road, which it is not."

The names of the drivers have not been released by Sussex Police, who operate data protection guidelines.