A girl aged nine has died a day after she and her mother were found with severe head injuries in their home.

Mollie Haynes, of Cavalry Crescent, Eastbourne, died in hospital late last night.

Her mother, Helen Perkins, 41, remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

Ms Perkins' partner, Michael Hooker, 49, of Northbourne Road, Eastbourne, appeared before Eastbourne magistrates this morning charged with the attempted murder of Mollie and her mother.

He was remanded in custody and is due to reappear at court on July 29.

The prosecution indicated that the attempted murder charge relating to Mollie would inevitably be commuted to a murder charge.

Sussex Police were called to a house in Cavalry Crescent, Eastbourne, at about 10pm on Sunday, where they found the 41-year-old woman and her daughter bleeding profusely.

A neighbour said she had heard the little girl's cries.

She said: "We heard screams coming from the house.

"Mollie can be quite loud sometimes so we thought it could just be her playing but later on there were crowds of people outside including police and ambulance staff."

The neighbour's daughter, who was friends with the younger victim, said: "Mollie was quite sociable and friendly but her mother stayed inside most of the time."

Six police cars and three ambulances attended the scene after receiving an emergency call from a man. Police refused to comment on where the call was made from.

An ambulance service spokeswoman said: "On arrival, crews discovered two patients, an adult female and nine-year-old girl, both in an extremely serious condition with serious head injuries.

"After being stabilised at the scene, both were taken by ambulance to Eastbourne District General Hospital.

"Both were subsequently transferred by ambulance to specialist hospitals for further treatment."

The girl was transferred to King's College Hospital in London and her mother moved to Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre in Haywards Heath.

Another neighbour said of Sunday night's events: "It was quite frightening with all the commotion just as we were getting ready to go to bed.

"I thought a bomb had gone off after what happened last week."

Mark Trott, the girl's headteacher at Ocklynge Junior School in Victoria Drive, Eastbourne, said yesterday before news of the girl's death: "We have all been shaken by the news and our thoughts go out to the family.

"Many of the pupils know through talk what has happened but we have not yet made an announcement."

Another neighbour said: "They hadn't been there long but they seemed like a nice family."

A police spokesman said officers were continuing with their investigations and a post-mortem examination would be carried out in the next few days.