A young mother will be unable to walk for months after suffering leg injuries in a collision with a double decker bus.

Vannessia Carrillo, 21, 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 her bones in both legs.

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 to close to the front of the bus and while pushing her out of the way she went under the wheels.

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 Vannessia's 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 the police are pursuing their matter further with our driver.

"I understand witnesses indicated our driver was not to blame."

A spokesman for Sussex police said: "The incident has been logged as a road traffic accident. The officer at the scene reported that the bus was pulling away when a pedestrian slipped off the kerb.

"Details were taken but the indications are that no action will be taken. if an allegation of dangerous driving was made we would take the matter further but it was considered an accident at the time. That seems to be the end of it."