A specialist rescue team had to be called in after an off-roader plummeted 100m down a steep hill.

The white Land Rover 4x4 was being driven in a field near Devil’s Dyke when the driver lost control and skidded over the edge of the bank.

The vehicle, which was carrying three men in their 20s, hit a tree and careered down the side of the hill until it smashed into a gully.

Fire and ambulance crews, plus members from the South East Coast Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), were called to Edburton Road at around 6pm on Sunday.

HART provides medical assistance to patients in hazardous environments that may be difficult to get to.

Rescuers spent an hour and a half freeing the 26- year-old driver of the car before he was flown by the coastguard helicopter to Royal Sussex County Hospital with serious injuries, including a broken leg.

His two passengers were taken to hospital by ambulance with minor injuries – but the car was left completely wrecked and in pieces.

A spokesman from West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said he believed the men had been off-roading before the accident.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “We are appealing for any witnesses to the incident – or anyone who saw the old-style Land Rover with a G registration plate driving on the Downs beforehand – to call us on 101, quoting incident 1068.”