A teenage girl was killed and another seriously injured when their car was in a head-on crash with a van.

Ria Reichl, 19, of Walshes Road, Crowborough, is believed to have died instantly in the smash on the A22 at Forest Row on Friday night.

The 15-year-old passenger in the Vauxhall Nova suffered head injuries and a suspected broken leg.

She had to be cut free from wreckage by fire crews and was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

Three men in the white Transit van were arrested after being taken to hospital with minor injuries.

They were kept in custody at Crawley police station until yesterday, when they were released on bail until May 28.

People living near the crash scene heard a loud bang and went out to find the van on the wrong side of the road and the car's bonnet squashed under it.

Eugene Peterson said: "I was in bed when the crash happened. I heard a loud bang and what sounded like somebody jumping on something so I went to the bedroom window.

"I could see the white van and the car bonnet underneath.

"People were jumping on them and trying to separate the vehicles.

"There was a man wandering about holding a piece of cloth to his head and about 20 people standing around. It looked terrible."

Mr Peterson, 62, said the emergency services worked for about two hours and the road was closed in both directions until at least 2am.

He said: "This is a very dangerous stretch of road - people come whizzing down it so fast. I've been saying to my wife for years that one day there will be a serious accident."

Neighbour June Horton, who was also woken by the crash, said many people stopped to try to help the crash victims.

She said: "I looked out of the window and realised something horrible had happened. It looked very bad."