Lorry smashes ancient church wall

A four-metre stretch of the wall, outside St Mary's Church, Shoreham, is now in need of repairs after the accident.

Marion Standing, who chairs the committee of the friends of St Mary's Church, said: "The walls are part of the historic conservation area in the centre of the town and, as such, we should make every effort to preserve them.

"This underlines the fact that modern, heavy traffic is not appropriate in such an area.

"Remnants of the part of the church which fell down in the 17th or 18th century became visible in the broken part of the wall, which shows we are dealing with historic material."