A man who was struck by a lorry on a busy carriageway has died.

Eyewitnesses said they saw the 29-year-old “crouch down” in front of the lorry on the A27 in Worthing, near the Swandean Psychiatric unit, on Tuesday morning.

He was described as having been thrown 50 yards down the road after being hit at around 9.30am opposite the Esso petrol station.

Paramedics worked on him for an hour in the middle of the road before an air ambulance took him to the neurology unit at Southampton General Hospital.

His condition was described as critical with life-threatening injuries, but he died yesterday.

The driver of the lorry, which belonged to the GE-BE transport and distribution firm, was said to be suffering from shock.

The road was closed from the Findon roundabout to Ivydore Avenue for almost four hours.

The Sussex Partnership Trust, which runs the Swandean mental health unit, wouldn’t confirm if the man was a patient at the hospital but said his family had asked for privacy.

A spokeswoman from Sussex Police said: “A pedestrian who was seriously injured after being involved in a collision with an HGV on the A27 Arundel Road, Worthing, on Tuesday 21 May has sadly died.

“The 29-year-old local man was flown by air ambulance to Southampton Hospital in a critical condition after the collision which happened at 9.35am near Swandean Hospital eastbound.

“The lorry driver suffered shock. Police closed the A27, its junction with the A24 and the A280 for more than three hours for emergency services to deal with the incident and for the air ambulance to land.”

Anyone with information who saw the collision is asked to call Sussex Police on 101 quoting Operation Daventry.

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