Eastbourne star Joe Screen and team-mate Joonas Kylmakorpi were rushed to hospital after an horrific pile-up at King's Lynn last night.

Both riders suffered serious injuries, and the match was abandoned with Eagles trailing by 40 points to 20.

Grand Prix ace Screen sustained a broken thigh bone, while Kylmakorpi suffered a suspected broken leg.

The crash happened in heat 11 when Kylmakorpi locked up on a bend, and Screen smashed into the Swedish rider.

There was a long delay before both riders were carried from the track and taken to hospital in two ambulances.

With no ambulance or medical support left at the stadium, the match was abandoned and will have to be restaged later in the season.

The injuries, particularly to Screen, one of their top riders, are a massive blow to the reigning Elite League champions.

The accident left Eagles with only four riders, the Sussex squad having already lost David Norris, who was ruled out of the meeting after a fall in heat six.

Ironically, Screen and Kylmakorpi had provided Eastbourne with their only heat win of the night three races earlier when Screen came in as a tactical substitute, and they scored a 5-1 over the King's Lynn pairing of Freddie Eriksson and Adam Shields.

Otherwise, it was almost all one-way traffic with the home side scoring three successive 5-1's in heats four, five and six and two more in heats ten and 11.

Jason Crump, Peter Karls-son and Nicki Pedersen were all unbeaten for the Knights.

King's Lynn: Jason Crump 9, Nicki Pedersen 8, Peter Karlsson 6, Niklas Klingberg 5, Freddie Eriksson 5, Tom Madsen 4, Adam Shields 3.

Eastbourne: Joe Screen 6, Martin Dugard 5, Joonas Kylmakorpi 3, Marcus Ander-sson 3, Brent Werner 2, Dean Barker 1, David Norris 0.