Delivery boy Paul Willshire says he owes his life to a bag of Argus newspapers which protected him from serious injury during a crash.

The 16-year-old was knocked off his bike in a collision with a car as he pulled into traffic on his regular paper round.

The Uckfield Community College student plunged over the bonnet and smashed into the windscreen.

He was thrown on to the road as the shocked driver skidded to a halt and dashed to see how badly hurt he was.

But the driver and other witnesses were amazed when Paul, of Hunters Way, Uckfield, got up immediately and walked to the side of the road.

He says his big bag of newspapers shielded him from the worst of the impact.

Paul said: "I realised straight away that I shouldn't have got up so quickly so I went over to the grass verge in Browns Lane and lay down.

"The driver came to check if I was all right and a woman who lived opposite put a blanket over me while we waited for the ambulance."

Paul was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath, with cuts and bruises but was allowed home after treatment.

He was advised to take the day off school on Friday in case he had concussion but hoped to be back on his usual paper round last night.

He planned to spend the weekend repairing his bike, which has a bent front fork and a buckled wheel.

Paul said: "The car hit my thigh and waist but luckily I had my paperbag on that side with quite a few copies of The Argus in it. That helped to cushion the blow - otherwise I could have ended up with broken ribs or worse injuries.

"I definitely owe my life to my Argus paperbag."