A 13-year-old boy and a man in his 20s died in two horrific car crashes during the weekend.

The boy died in a three-car smash on the B2104 Hailsham Road at Stone Cross, near Hailsham, at 5.25pm on Saturday and six people were taken to the Eastbourne District General Hospital by ambulance.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service sent units from Pevensey and Hailsham and had to cut two people from the wreckage.

A Sussex Ambulance spokeswoman said another teenage boy was seriously injured in the crash and flown to hospital in the police helicopter.

In a second smash, the driver of a silver Rover hatchback was killed and a 19-year-old man was left fighting for his life when their car burst into flames seconds after hitting a tree.

People living on the A26 Eridge Road in Crowborough said they heard a loud bang and felt heat sweep over their homes at 12.25am yesterday after the car, being driven by a man in his 20s, ploughed into the tree and swerved to the middle of the road near Oakhurst Drive as it travelled south towards Lewes.

The 19-year-old man was airlifted to Eastbourne District General Hospital by the police helicopter suffering serious burns while an 18-year-old man went to hospital with minor injuries.

East Sussex firefighters from Crowborough and Mayfield spent almost two hours cutting the men from the wreck before they could be treated.

Eastbourne District General Hospital clinical matron Lynn Knowles confirmed two people were admitted to the hospital.

One was discharged, while the other was transferred to a London hospital suffering severe burns.

Retired couple Sandra Blake, 60, and her husband Bill, 63, who live about 30 metres away from the crash site, were in bed reading when they heard a noise.

Mrs Blake said: "My husband jumped out of bed and saw the fire.

"The car had hit a tree and was in flames in seconds. There wasn't anything anyone could do because you couldn't get near it.

"It was awful and we couldn't believe it. No one could have got out of that.It went straight up. It was horrible.

"There were more bangs and people were saying to keep away and then all the police cars and ambulances came and the air ambulance. Somebody shouted that they had burnt their hands.

"That road can be quite slippery but there wasn't a lot of traffic."

The car ended up in the road in front of Joyce King's house after mowing down her neighbour's hedge and crashing into a tree on the corner of her drive.

She said: "It was a real bang but it all happened very quickly.

"Someone said they had been on their way to Eastbourne.

"The helicopter landed in the field next to the road and one man was taken to it on a stretcher through a gap in the hedge.

"The road does bend and even though it's a 40mph limit people travel much faster. There have been other accidents but no one has ever died.

"I recognised the thump of a car crashing as soon as it happened last night because I have heard it so many times."

In a separate incident, a man was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after crashing into another car outside a pub.

The force of the impact was so hard the man, who was not thought to be wearing a seatbelt, was flung into the back of the car, trapping his legs.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene outside the Swan Inn in Middle Street, Falmer, at 1am yesterday to free the man from the wreckage.

In another accident, a man was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after he crashed outside a police station.

The driver escaped injury but his woman passenger was treated for shock in an ambulance at the scene.

The accident happened when the man's car was in a collision with three other cars at Crowhurst Road, Brighton, yards from Sussex Police's Hollingbury custody centre and the Asda supermarket.

Fork life truck drivers from nearby industrial units helped clear away the wreckage including a badly-damaged black BMW.

Police closed the road and two ambulances were called to the scene shortly after the smash at 11.03pm on Friday.