Cash for beach study

The Environment Agency has agreed the funding will be made available from April.

This will enable the detailed study of Pagham Harbour and its mouth to be carried out during five to six months later this year by consultants working for Arun District Council.

The research will consider the options for addressing the coastal erosion and any flood risk posed to nearby residents.

It could cost another 1m-plus to put in place measures to counter the erosion of the beach. This would be subject to separate funding from the agency.

Arun's senior councillor for emergency planning Cllr Roger Elkins said: "We know how important this issue is to local residents and they can rest assured that we take it very seriously indeed.

"This council is fully supportive of our communities that find themselves at risk. We have to make sure this issue remains high on the Environment Agency's agenda."

Stopgap engineering measures are being prepared by Arun in case of an emergency. Evacuation plans for residents are also in place.

The flooding danger has arisen because the sea is eating into the shingle bank to erode the protective barrier in front of East Front Road and West Front Road.

The beach is being eaten away because the pebbles which the tide should be placing there are being put on an offshore spit instead.

Pagham parish councillors fear the erosion is so bad that extreme storms next winter could cause flooding if preventative measures are not carried out by then.

Arun's engineers have already started preparing for the survey to take place soon after April.

The study's results will be made public. Its recommendations for action will be voted upon by Arun's councillors.

But the proposals will have to consider the sensitive nature of the area. It has national environmental status as a site of special scientific interest and international regard as a special protection area for European protected species of birds.