A sports car enthusiast's £26,000 Lamborghini kit car was stolen from under his nose by a bogus buyer.

Sam Fortescue, 24, tried to cling to the door of his one-of-a-kind car as it roared off under the control of a thief whom police suspect was a professional criminal.

Police are linking the audacious carjacking in Burgess Hill to a number of incidents in the Hove area.

Officers believe expensive cars are being stolen in Sussex and swiftly taken out of the country via the Channel Tunnel or nearby ports.

Mr Fortescue had been showing his rare kit car to a man he believed to be a potential buyer, when the thief jumped into the 'Lamborghini Diablo' and sped off.

Mr Fortescue, of Cox Grove, Burgess Hill, said: "At first all I could feel was fear and panic. For a split second I was clinging on to the car door as it roared away.

"Obviously I'm gutted because it was my pride and joy. The car is well-known in the kit car world and I wanted it to go to a good home. Now it may be out of the country."

The replica Lamborghini was recently converted to the newer SE30 model, making it unique in the UK.

Mr Fortescue bought the car 18 months ago but was hoping to sell it to finance a move abroad.

After advertising it in magazines, he received a phone call last week from a man calling himself Chris, agreeing to view the sports car on Thursday.

Mr Fortescue said: "He was very clever. He told me he was coming down from Bristol and later phoned to tell me he was stuck in traffic because of the London bombing.

"Obviously he was putting me off until it was starting to get dark and the roads were empty."

By the time the potential buyer arrived it was 9.30pm, and after looking at the car for around an hour, Mr Fortescue agreed to take him out for a test drive.

He said: "When he started driving he stalled it a couple of times and kept it in the wrong gear, I just assumed it was natural. He soon got the hang of driving it and began asking questions, but now I realise this was all part of his act."

Among the questions the thief asked was whether the car had a tracker fitted, how the immobiliser worked, and whether it would be easy to get the car onto a tow truck.

Then, just as the two men were changing positions in Victoria Avenue, the thief jumped back into the car, jamming his foot down on the accelerator.

Mr Fortescue said: "I ran up the road and heard my car roar as he turned left into Royal George Road in the direction of the A23."

Police believe various pieces of evidence point to a well-thought out and planned steal, almost certainly carried out by an experienced car thief.

The thief was described as Asian, about 25 years old and 6ft 4in. He was thin with black hair, long sideburns, and a soft Irish accent.