A five-year-old West Sussex girl was in a critical condition today after being knocked down by a car as she left a birthday party.

The girl was crossing the road to meet her mother when the accident happened just after 6pm yesterday in Cootham, near Storrington.

The accident was witnessed by the girl's mother. Police said the girl was from the local area.

She was trying to cross the A283 at Cootham, close to its junction with Chapel Lane, when she was in collision with a Skoda Octavia estate car being driven west, away from Storrington.

The girl suffered serious head injuries and was taken to St Richard's Hospital, Chichester.

She was later transferred to the neurological centre at Southampton General Hospital.

The 44-year-old male driver of the Skoda was unhurt.

A police spokesman said: "This is an awful thing to happen at any time but being Christmas it hits home even harder.

"What makes it worse is that her mum appears to have witnessed the accident."