The police inquiry into a car crash which killed a popular Portuguese bricklayer is now focusing on a single suspect.

Rui Rica, 19, from Worthing, died when the Mini he was travelling in as a passenger hit the central reservation of the M23 in October.

Three people, also from Worthing, were arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

Of those, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man are no longer under investigation.

A teenage boy, who was 16 at the time of the crash, remains on police bail.

The Mini was carrying false number plates and police were investigating whether the car had been stolen.

They have also examined whether drink or drugs were involved.

Police have not yet confirmed the results of those enquiries.

Mr Rica, of Mill Road, was killed in the early hours of October 9.

It is believed he was sitting in the front passenger seat and was thrown from the vehicle in the crash.

All the other occupants of the car were reported to have run off after the accident.

The 16-year-old, now 17, was treated for minor injuries at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill before his arrest.

Mr Rica, known to his friends as Hoy, was a talented footballer who played for a team in his native Portugal before his family moved to Britain in 2005.

The crash between Pease Pottage and Crawley caused ten-mile tailbacks through Handcross and Warninglid.

Members of the public responded to a police appeal through The Argus with sightings of the vehicles in the hours before the crash.

The blue car was believed to have been driven around Worthing, Littlehampton, Portslade and Brighton late in the evening of October 8.

Inspector Marc Armstrong said police could not confirm further details of the investigation at this stage.

He said: "We are still investigating the remaining suspect."