A Mid Sussex sports superman who plans to circumnavigate the globe in a boat despite losing a leg in a road smash is claiming more than £2 million from insurers.

Steve Kashdan, 38, told the High Court he was once so vital to his graphic design business it would now take two people to replace him.

He had also suffered terrible head injuries in the sports car crash in which he lost his right leg.

These injuries left him unable to use a computer for prolonged periods, and mean he 'functions effectively as a one eyed person', his counsel, John Cherry QC, told London's High Court.

Mr Kashdan is claiming compensation for the loss to his graphic design business, as part of a damages package, from the car's driver, Edward Chapman, whose motor insurers have admitted liability.

Mr Kashdan, of Oak Cottages, Sandy Lane, Crawley Down, had his right leg amputated below the knee on October 23 1997 at the scene of the crash.

A TVR sports car in which he was a passenger hit a signpost on the B2028 near the Dukes Head roundabout, Copthorne.

He also suffered appalling injuries to his left leg, and had to have his left eye socket 'rebuilt' with titanium plates.

Despite this, he intends to build a boat and sail around the world - an ambition he is claiming over £600,000 to fulfil.

Mr Kashdan also wants more than £250,000 for a house he says he intended to build himself, and almost £1 million for various specialist prosthetic legs to enable him to carry on with sports.

Mr Kashdan, who said he only sleeps three hours a night, told the court he would use part of his damages to fund "further development that have not yet been conceived" in prosthetic leg design.

Defence counsel John Crowley QC put to him that he had "done rather more work than you have been telling the judge", pointing out that he had been capable of design input into one project, estimated as being worth over £1,000.

Mr Kashdan replied that he had been able to do the work, but only with "considerable effort and suffering".

The hearing continues.