A 22-YEAR-OLD man was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a car crashed into a tree.

He was a passenger in the car which rammed the tree on the A284 in Lyminster, near Littlehampton, yesterday evening.

The man was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton with serious injuries.

A 24-year-old man from Littlehampton has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The car was a blue Renault Clio, and the crash happened at around 6.15pm.

Emergency services closed the A284 between its junctions with Coomes Way and Church Lane to clear the vehicle.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said the road re-opened at 10.10pm.

Officers are now appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Sergeant Huw Watts, of the Surrey and Sussex Road Policing Unit, said: "We want to talk to anyone who may have seen what happened or who noticed the car being driven shortly before it crashed."

Anyone with information should call Sussex Police on 101 quoting Operation Stanford.