A good Samaritan has told how she was attacked by a gang after she and her family went to help the victim of a road accident.

The 44-year-old teacher fears she will not be able to walk for three months following the assault outside her home.

She told The Argus how she rushed into the street with her husband and 17-year-old son after they saw a woman in her 20s hit by a van in Mile Oak Road, Portslade, at 12.45am on Saturday.

She said the woman's head smashed into the windscreen of a Peugeot van and she was thrown into the air.

The woman landed in a driveway and was lying unconscious with blood pouring from her head.

The teacher said the woman was with a large group of friends, most of whom appeared to have been drinking, and they reacted aggressively when the family tried to help, despite being told her son was a lifeguard and qualified first-aider.

The group of up to 20 males and females in their 20s refused to let the family through and insisted they could help the girl themselves, trying to pull her to her feet.

Several other neighbours also came to help, including former firefighter Mike Griffiths.

The teacher said members of the group then turned on the driver of the van.

She said she was kicked in the back of the leg as she and her neighbours intervened to help him.

She said: "It was absolute agony, instant pain like a gunshot wound. I thought my leg was broken."

She said the driver was hit at least once before he fled from his attackers.

Her son and Mr Griffiths managed to reach the injured woman during the commotion and administered first aid.

Paramedics took over after arriving at the scene within three minutes, closely followed by police.

Both the teacher and the victim were taken by ambulance to Worthing Hospital.

The teacher suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon and will not be able to put any weight on her leg for three months.

She said: "I'm just so hurt and upset. I went out there to help and I was attacked like this, with so much spite, by someone who I've never even met. They were like wild animals."

The van driver, who was badly shocked but uninjured, handed himself in at Hove Police Station on Saturday morning and was arrested.

Sussex Police also arrested a woman who accompanied the crash victim to hospital on suspicion of GBH. Both have been released on bail while police conduct further investigations.

The woman hit by the van suffered severe facial, head and leg injuries. She is now in a stable condition.

Anyone with any information should contact PC Laurie Wickens on 0845 6070 999 quoting Operation Ontario or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.