POLICE were called after a man was seen carrying what was believed to gun outside a newsagents in London Road, Bexhill, on Sunday.

Anton Johnson, 24, a company director of Quarry Hill, St Leonards, was charged with possession of an imitation firearm. He is due to appear at Lewes Crown Court on September 11.

Johnson, who owns a fish and chip shop, is alleged to have got into a row and had a decommissioned handgun hidden under his shirt. He was granted bail.