A fighter jet has crashed on to a busy road and hit at least four cars in Sussex, England, after a loop-the-loop stunt during an airshow display went disastrously wrong - leaving several casualties.

Thousands of spectators watched in horror as the Hawker Hunter burst into flames after smashing into vehicles waiting at a traffic light on the A27 next to Shoreham Airshow in West Sussex this afternoon.

It has been reported that the pilot, who has not yet been identified, was pulled from the burning wreckage of the 1950s plane and is now recovering in hospital.

Sussex Police said there were several casualties after the jet came down but it was not known how many people were injured or how seriously they were hurt.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "Police are aware of the incident at the airshow and dealing."