A mother and her two children had a brush with death when a wooden stake pierced their Land Rover in a terrifying road crash.

Theresa Fowler of Hollingdean Terrace, Brighton, was driving her daughters Naomi, seven, and Alana, 16, to stables in Plumpton when her Land Rover Defender hit a rut on Ditchling Road, near Ditchling Beacon.

As she fought to keep control of the vehicle it smashed through a fence and flipped on to its side in a field.

A fence post pierced a window and narrowly missed the two children as they sat in the middle row of seats.

Mrs Fowler said: "It was about two feet away from them. I thank God we are alive. I have only just begun to realise how lucky we were.

"I think if we had been in any other car it would have rolled right over.

"It was like slow motion during the crash. I broke the sun-roof and we climbed out. It was really frightening and the children were distraught. The police said if it had been any other vehicle we would not be here."

By another stroke of luck, an ambulance was passing and stopped to help the family. Amazingly, they were not injured.

Mrs Fowler said she had noticed ruts in the road before and was angry they had not been repaired.

Police said they would be reporting the incident to the Highways Agency and East Sussex County Council.

A council spokeswoman said: "Ditchling Road is one of the county's main distributor roads and is routinely inspected every month. We have no recent records of major potholes.

"At this time of the year, with the recent heavy rain and overnight frosts, potholes can develop very quickly. The council is looking into the matter."