Beach dust up

Residents in Harbour Way said they had found a strange "rust dust" in their gardens which they believed came from the scrap metal pile.

Charles Powell, of Harbour Way, said he has given a sample to Adur District Council for analysis, but they had not yet received any results.

John Bradshaw, chairman of Shoreham Beach Residents' Association, said he would now get a sample analysed privately.

Mr Powell said he had a birdbath in his garden which the birds refuse to go into and he had found a layer of this dust at the bottom of the bath.

Recycling company EMR wants to extend its operations at the port and has offered to put up screens to hide the scrap metal.

Mr Bradshaw added: "It's a liberty. Before, you could always know there would be a pile of scrap metal there, but it would disappear. Now they are just bringing more and more in.

"If they (the council] cannot do anything about it, they should put a height restriction on it. Everybody is complaining about this metal dust which is blowing around."

Resident Don Dixon said EMR was not even a local company and was not a large employer locally.

A spokesman for EMR said: "While we share local residents' concerns about dust levels, we believe that its source is not as a result of our operations.

"We are a responsible company and operate strictly within the terms of our licence. Considerable building work is being carried out in the area, prompting complaints of dust from our own staff in recent weeks."