Crop circle experts have dismissed the latest formation to appear in Sussex as a hoax.

Strange images have now materialised in fields near the road between Lewes and Ringmer.

But experts reckon these are not the real thing - unlike the recently-discovered circles at Woodingdean and others which appeared at Sompting on Sunday.

Andy Thomas and Allan Brown contacted us after they were pictured in aerial photographs of the formations at Woodingdean.

They explained they had been measuring and analysing the circle when the picture was taken.

The pair, who both lecture on crop circles and other related subjects, inspected the site between Lewes and Ringmer yesterday.

They discovered a disappointing display, but went on to measure the two circles and crude star.

Allan said: "It certainly looks like this one is a hoax. It has all the typical signs of a crop circle and is similar to many that appeared in the early Nineties but it's very messy."

It was the secondary breaks to the corn stems which gave the game away. That, according to Allan, is usually caused by a foot or plank used to flatten the corn.

He said: "In every hoax you can see the secondary breakage while in what we would call the genuine ones you never get that."

The hoax circle appeared in the same field as another simple circle which the experts believe was genuine.

The Woodingdean crop circle arrived in two parts. After analysing the image, Andy and Allan reckon it is also for real.

Allan explained the geometry of the genuine circles was so intricate it was hard to believe it could be done as a prank on the spur of the moment.

He said: "I have studied crop circle designs every day for the past five years and I still learn something new every time.

"The geometry used is so far-reaching - it really has been my best teacher. It makes me realise it can't possibly be drunk people doing it for a laugh.

"There is no way you can just go into a field and draw such geometrically complicated shapes overnight."

In studies of the crops affected by formations, the seed head has been found to be mutated.

Andy said: "The growth rate alters and the cells are swollen as if they had been heated. There are many details which have never been replicated in a man-made formation."

Andy has written several books on the phenomena, including Fields Of Mystery and Vital Signs.