Mystery crash on pier

Littlehampton police have confirmed that a 33-year-old Littlehampton man drove the car at high speed down the pier, crashing into the end, before he jumped into the water at around midnight.

The red 2.8 litre Ford Capri, pictured, left, uprooted an iron bollard at the entrance to the pier, pushing it through two cast-iron framed benches before ploughing into the end of the pier.

A bottle of Courvoisier cognac was found in the car and police believe the man had been drinking.

Two police officers near the scene at the time of the crash saw the benches fly into the air. They rushed to see what had happened and found the man in the water, clinging to the eastern, beach side of the pier.

The officers spent five minutes trying to coax the man out of the water and he eventually took a life-ring thrown to him and was pulled to safety just three hours after high tide.

The pier, which is made of hardwood and iron, was strewn with bits of the car and parts of the two benches it demolished.

A deep gouge down the length of the wooden walkway marked the course of the bollard as it was pushed along by the speeding car, which also caused serious damage to the end of the pier.

Roger Spencer, senior engineer for Arun District Council, said: "There is considerable damage to the pier. The crash has deformed the nose of the pier but that's contained to a high level and has not really affected its structural integrity."

The car, an insurance write-off, was removed from the pier on Monday afternoon by a recovery van which had to use a long tow cable to avoid driving on the weakened structure.

The man, suffering facial injuries, was taken to Worthing Hospital by ambulance. He was discharged on Tuesday.

Littlehampton coastguard station officer Tony Wright, who was called to the scene said: "The police called the coastguard saying that there was a possibility of a car crashed into the river.

"When I got to the pier there were three police cars there. We had the boat on standby but it wasn't needed. The car was still on the pier but the driver had been in the water.

"I've been working here for 36 years and seen cars crash into the river further up and into the sea but I've never seen a car go down the pier."