Teen arrested in Catsfield following fatal car crash

Police were called to Holliers Hill in Bexhill just after 1am on August 29, following reports a green Citroen Saxo car had collided with a parked van and had come to rest on a grass bank. When officers arrived at the scene they discovered one of the occupants of the car, thought to be the driver, had fled the scene. Three other people in the car were taken to hospital. One of them, a 19-year-old man, died at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings a short time later. The other two, an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman, were both taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. Their injuries were described by Sussex Police as ‘serious, but not life-threatening’. A 19-year-old man was arrested at an address in Catsfield shortly after 9am yesterday, on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He is currently being questioned by police officers. Sussex Police have not revealled the name of the man or whereabouts in the village he was arrested. The name of the teenager who died in the accident has also not yet been released by officers. Residents reported hearing the screech of brakes shortly before the collision. One resident from Kipling Court, who did not want to be named, said: “All I heard was a serious slamming of brakes and screeching of brakes and then a massive crash.” She said she heard noises coming from the injured teenagers, adding: “It was just horrible.” Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash as investigations continue. Sergeant Dave Morgan of the Sussex Roads Policing Unit at Polegate said: “We are asking anyone who saw what happened, or who saw the Saxo in the area immediately beforehand, to contact us via 101 or email us at ‘collision.appeal@sussex.pnn.police.uk’, quoting Operation Account.”