Engineers fear freezing weather this weekend will cause millions of pounds worth of damage to roads already wrecked by weeks of rain.

Hundreds of miles of roads throughout Sussex are sitting on beds of water caused by weeks of relentless rain.

Experts fear if there is a freeze the water will expand and cause landslides and huge craters to open up.

Chris Walker, assistant director of operations in the transport and environmental department of East Sussex County Council is writing to the Government pleading for extra cash because the recent wet weather has caused £4.15 million of damage to East Sussex roads and fears a freeze could take that figure even higher.

He said: "The roads and the land are absolutely saturated and water is pouring off fields now because it's got nowhere to go and temperatures are predicted to drop to as low as minus three.

"Anything that freezes on the surface will penetrate below and there will be a lot more potholes and major damage."

There were 24 roads in the county with traffic restrictions and 12 completely closed this week because of the wet weather.

Out of those 36 roads, 28 of them have suffered landslides.

Mr Walker, who has worked for East Sussex County Council since 1975, saw the devastation the freezing winters of 1984 and 1985 caused to roads in the region, but says this year's weather could top the millions of pounds it cost to repair them 15 years ago.

He said: "This is an emergency. We're asking the Government for financial assistance just for the roads. Excuse the pun, but we don't seem to be able to keep our heads above water."

He warned that motorists could also face atrocious weather conditions if the water sitting on top of the road surfaces throughout the region freezes. Sussex roads could become an ice rink as any salting the engineers do faces being washed away by water running off fields and hills which has nowhere to go because the land is already saturated.

Mr Walker says since October 1 until today, there have only been 15 days without rain and not more than two consecutive days without rain.

He added: "We have so many saturated roads and roads in that state that if we do get a bad winter I would estimate damage up to £5 million."

Brighton and Hove Council escaped such widespread damage to its roads, but faces paying a £100,000 bill to repair the A23 at Patcham which was flooded by the recent weather.