Two teenagers have won almost £3.5 million in damages after being seriously injured in a car crash which killed the driver.

Thilo Gnass, then 16, and Frederik Zengel, then 18, were members of the Church of Scientology's Sea Organisation at the time of the crash in June 1997.

They were hurt when their car collided with a lorry on the A22 in Crowborough.

The pair, living in Crowborough at the time, were passengers in a car driven by Russell Dienes, who died from his injuries.

Mr Dienes was racing after a friend who had made an obscene gesture through the sun-roof of his own car, the High Court heard.

Mr Gnass and Mr Zengel have since returned to Germany to be cared for by their families.

Damages were claimed from Mr Dienes' estate on grounds that it was his negligent driving which caused the accident.

Liability was not disputed.

David Westcott, representing the two injured friends, said Mr Zengel sustained grievous physical injuries in the accident, although he had since made a good recovery from the effects of a major head wound.

He also suffered a perforated eardrum, fractured jaw, chest damage and a ruptured spleen.

Mr Gnass was also left with severe bodily injuries as well as a fractured skull.

Mr Westcott said Mr Gnass spent eight weeks in a coma, emerging with "severe brain damage" which had reduced his intelligence and damaged his powers of memory.

Mr Westcott said: "His personality has changed and his speech is slurred. He is incapable of work."

Mr Justice Morland approved terms of settlement. Mr Gnass will receive £1,720,000 for his injuries and Mr Zengel £1,641,500.

Mr Dienes' passengers had urged him to slow down minutes before the accident, an inquest into his death heard in January 1998.

Before the accident, Mr Dienes drew near his friend's car at a junction on to the A22 and he saw the other driver make a one-fingered salute.

Mr Dienes turned on to the A22 without looking and drove straight into the path of an on-coming lorry driven by David Whiterod.