A sports car plunged off a bridge and down a railway embankment, then smashed into a tree.

The occupants of the BMW Z3 appear to have escaped serious injury in Saturday morning's accident.

The car left the carriageway in Western Road, Lancing, narrowly missed a lamp post, smashed through a chain link fence and shot down the embankment towards the main South Coast rail line.

Emergency workers said the accident could have been far worse if the car had missed the tree and carried on going.

The vehicle came to a halt 30ft from builder Patrick Sullivan's house.

The car's two occupants had disappeared by the time police and firefighters arrived.

An investigation was launched to find the owner of the Surrey-registered vehicle.

Mr Sullivan said he was lucky to be alive as he had been planning to build a section of fence in front of the embankment where the car landed. The rain had put him off.

He said: "I was vacuuming and had put the cleaner away when I heard quite a bang. I went out and saw the car on the bank and couldn't believe it.

"Some of the concrete posts came flying into the garden. I was going to put up a fence this morning - but if I had I wouldn't be here now."

Station Officer Terry Beck, of Lancing fire brigade, said: "It was extremely lucky. There is no doubt it could have been worse if the tree hadn't been there and the car had kept running."

A police spokesman said the car was registered in Surrey.