Leicester's seam bowlers helped them see off Sussex by eight wickets at the Grace Road ground today.

Their performance earned the hosts their first Frizzell County Championship Division One win since early June.

After dismissing Sussex for a paltry 142 in their second innings, Leicestershire faced a victory target of just 111 and they romped to an important success with more than four sessions to spare.

The result was a major setback for Sussex, who are now left anxiously looking over their shoulders in the battle to avoid the dreaded three relegation places.

Sussex knew they faced an uphill battle when they resumed on 56 for five but Leicestershire's experienced trio of seamers - Phil DeFreitas, Devon Malcolm and Javagal Srinath - continued their good work of the previous evening by making steady inroads into the visitors' batting.

DeFreitas struck the first blow with the total on 69 when Tim Ambrose, who had added only six to his overnight 24, played a loose drive at a good-length delivery and edged a catch to wicketkeeper Neil Burns.

It soon became 76 for seven when Matt Prior was beaten for pace by Srinath and comprehensively bowled for four and James Kirtley (12) departed with the total on 92 when he edged a well-pitched ball from former England paceman Malcolm to Darren Maddy, who took a good catch at second slip.

Despite Sussex's plight, Kevin Innes batted with defiance and good sense but, after a stand of 23 for the ninth wicket, he saw Mark Davis depart for seven, fatally playing back to a good-length ball by DeFreitas to be bowled off an inside edge.

Sussex's resistance was finally ended just before lunch when Billy Taylor (three) edged Malcolm to Burns, leaving the unlucky Innes stranded on 49 not out.

In a lesson to Sussex's top-order batsmen, Innes batted for 97 minutes, faced 66 balls and hit nine fours.

The evergreen DeFreitas finished with four for 42 from 19 impressive overs and was well supported by Srinath (three for 48) and Malcolm (two for 29).

In reply, Leicestershire made light of their task and easily reached their victory target for the loss of just Trevor Ward (26) and Darren Maddy (23).