A 19-year-old motorist was killed and his friend seriously injured in a horrific road accident which saw the car they were travelling in torn in half.

Firefighters and ambulance crews on the scene said it was one of worst accidents involving a single car they had ever seen on a Sussex road.

The accident at Braypool near Patcham on the notorious A23 happened feet from the spot where another male driver was killed when his car went off the road two months ago.

The two accidents have prompted calls for further safety measures along the A23 in Sussex, where 20 people have been killed in the past 14 months.

Sunday morning's accident occurred at 12.55am when a blue Renault Laguna travelling towards Brighton veered off the road, demolished a lamppost then hit a tree bordering playing fields.

It was 100 yards north of the Patcham roundabout where the A23 connects with the A27 Worthing to Lewes Road.

The 19-year-old driver died shortly after impact while firefighters had to cut his friend out of the car.

The injured youth was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital where last night his condition was described as "serious".

The main A23 was closed southbound between Pyecombe and the Patcham Roundabout for more than six hours after the accident, with traffic being diverted over Ditchling Beacon.

The first firefighters on the scene were White Watch from Preston Circus Fire Station, Brighton.

Sub officer Richard Chamberlain, in charge of the crew, said: "Wreckage was strewn across all three southbound carriageways. In my 18 years as a firefighter it was one of the worst accidents I have ever seen.

"The car had been torn in half. The engine was yards down the road and the steering wheel in the middle of the central reservation. The impact was so quick that one of the airbags was flung from the car before it could inflate.

"There were tyre marks across the road.

"We were immediately asked by the paramedics to get the two lads out of the wreckage which we did with aid of lifting gear.

"We were a small crew and we were on our own for eight minutes while the crew from Burgess Hill arrived but we just had to get on with the job. We could have done with two appliances sent from Brighton and Hove but because of cutbacks and it being close to the border with West Sussex, protocol says a crew from West Sussex should be sent.

"We are all hoping the injured lad pulls through."

On March 21, Peter Matuszczak, 35, from Islfield, Crawley, died after his car went off the road at almost the same point after clipping the central reservation.

Both accidents occurred at a spot where motorists travelling south change lanes before either going on to Brighton, Lewes, or west to Hove and Worthing.

Geoffrey Theobald, a Brighton and Hove City Councillor for Patcham and member of the Sussex Police Authority, said: "There should be a thorough investigation into this accident to see if safety can be improved at the spot.

"There have been too many accidents on the A23 recently, many involving young boys who have just learnt to drive.

"There are now some people who believe the age of driving should be increased to 21 or even 25."

His wife, Carol, who represents the same ward on the city council, said: "Speed cameras may be one safety measure at the point or possibly chevron markings to encourage motorist to slow down.

"As the mother of two boys around the same age of the 19-year-old who has been killed, I can imagine what the family is going through after this tragic loss of life."

Roger Vincent of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "Obviously with all these accidents happening on the A23, including the two fatal ones at virtually the same spot at Braypool, experts with local knowledge need to have a look at the road.

"Ninety-five per cent of road accidents are caused by driver error and it is vital that motorists drive more carefully and safely when they drive down to Brighton and take more time for their journeys."