A young mother will be unable to walk for months after suffering leg injuries in an accident with a double-deck bus.

Vannessia Carrillo, 21, from Hailsham, was badly injured on New Year's Eve when she fell under the wheels of a bus in Western Road, Brighton, while out celebrating.

Her legs were crushed by the front and back wheels of the bus, shattering bones.

She had a metal pin inserted in one of her ankles during surgery at Royal Sussex County Hospital and must wear casts on both legs for at least two months.

She will not be able to walk properly for several months or pick up her young children, eight-month-old Brandon and three-year-old Simone.

The accident happened at a bus stop near the Bar Med pub where Vannessia and her brother Django, 20, were hoping to catch a bus with their 17-year-old sister Jenny.

Vannessia said: "We had gone out for New Year's Eve but Jenny was not used to drinking. She got really drunk and my brother and I decided to take her home then come back out later."

She said her sister got too close to the front of the bus.

Vannessia said: "At first it did not hurt that much because I went into shock. I managed to crawl up on to the pavement and then it really started to hurt. I just lay down and I can't remember anything more until I woke up in hospital."

Vannessia, who lives with boyfriend Peter Walsh in Diplocks Walk, Hailsham, does not know how long she will have to stay in hospital because doctors do not know the extent of the damage to her legs.

Her children are being looked after by her mother, Mary Ellis, at the family home in Newick Road, Moulsecoomb.

She said: "Sometimes I am all right, then it all comes back to me and I start crying."

Roger French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses, said: "It was an accident which happened and I don't believe police are pursuing the matter further with our driver."