Pub-goers lifted a car off a teenage boy after he and a girl were badly hurt in a crash last night.

The pair were crossing Kingsway on Hove seafront when the accident happened.

Witnesses said Renault 5 was in collision with the girl, dragged the boy underneath as it swerved, then hit a traffic light.

A group of eight men from The Kingsway pub lifted the car off the boy, who was unconscious, while another, Julian Kirby, went to the aid of the girl.

He said: "Her foot was hanging limp. I took off my shirt and wrapped her ankle in it to try and stop the bleeding.

"She was very shocked and kept passing out and then waking up again. I kept talking to her, telling her who I was, asking who she was, trying to keep her with me.

"She managed to answer questions about who she was and where she lived. It was a terrible accident. I was very shocked."

Justin Anderson, who helped lift the car off the boy, said: "Everyone just reacted really quickly, phoning the police, helping the injured people, it was all so quick."

Both teenagers were taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. The boy suffered serious head injuries and the girl severe leg and ankle injuries.

The accident happened at 7.45pm near the junction with Brittany Road.

TV presenter Zoe Ball and her DJ husband Norman Cook, who live in Hove, were out strolling nearby when the accident happened.

They stopped to talk to police but it is thought they were unable to help with the investigation.

Dan Rosen, 18, was in his car outside The Kingsway at the time.

He said: "I glanced round and saw the two on the pavement at the crossing.

"I was parking my car when out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur of red. I looked up again and the two of them were hit. It was so quick.

"The girl was hit by the front of the car, then as the car skidded sideways the boy was pulled underneath."

Traffic police said they were trying to establish the Renault's speed at the time of the crash, among other lines of inquiry.

A police spokesman said the driver was a 22-year-old man from London. His passenger, also a London man, suffered chest injuries.

Police are trying to trace the occupants of another Renault 5 seen in the area at the time of the crash.

Anyone with information should contact Shoreham traffic police on 0845 6070999.