A West Sussex woman is fighting for compensation over a crash which killed her mother and nine-year-old sister.

Hannah Martin, 18, lost her mother Tracy and sister Emily, formerly of Fryern Road, Storrington, in the accident on March 30, 1988.

Her barrister said she was brain damaged in the crash, which happened when she was five.

Driver James Ray, who was 16 at the time, had taken his mother's Nissan Patrol and crashed it into Mrs Martin's car on the A282 between Steyning and Washington, a court heard.

Doctors feared Hannah Martin would die from the severe head injuries she received.

Her 11-year-old sister Charlotte and brother Charles escaped unhurt.

Ray, of Hillside Lane, Small Dole, near Henfield, had lied about his age to obtain a driving licence and admitted two counts of causing death by reckless driving at Lewes Crown Court on February 21, 1989.

He was banned from driving for five years and ordered to do 150 hours' community service.

Ms Martin, now a student at Chichester College, suffered damage to the frontal lobe of her brain in the accident, her counsel, Robin de Wilde QC, told the High Court.

She has been left with reduced balance and co-ordination, tremors in her left arm and impaired memory and concentration.

Ms Wilde, who lives with her computer consultant father John in Storrington, is suing 28-year-old Ray for six-figure damages.

Expert medical and occupational health witnesses are due to give evidence.