A CELEBRATION to mark the completion of a much awaited flood defence scheme has been put on hold - for fear of flooding.

The Environment Agency (EA) bash was due to be held to mark the opening of the £19 million Littlehampton flood defence project on Monday.

The wall is continuous from the mouth of the River Arun to north of the A259 road bridge apart from a section the EA requested a private landowner to maintain.

Jane Wood, whose Brownfield Estates business built five waterfront homes in River Road next to the gap, was the only business or individual who had been asked to contribute to the defences - at around £80,000.

She told the press she was not prepared to pay any more to the adjoining site which she was no longer intending to redevelop.

And with the highest tides for 17 years predicted on Monday and therefore a risk of localised flooding, the event has been cancelled.

Invitations for the Arun District Council-hosted reception had been sent and food ordered. But with the protective wall not completely in tact it was decided it would be "inappropriate" to hold a celebration.

An Arun District Council spokeswoman said: “Regrettably, the event has been cancelled. However an interpretation board will soon be erected on the waterfront to tell people about the scheme, and to celebrate the partnership working involved in creating the £19 million flood defence work and improvements to the East Bank.”

When contacted by The Argus, Mrs Wood, also the owner of East Beach Café in Sea Road, said she had nothing else to say on the topic.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "We are very proud of what we have achieved in Littlehampton, working in partnership to reduce tidal flood risk to 2,000 residential properties and businesses for the next 100 years.

"To mark the completion of our Littlehampton East Bank flood defence scheme, we were due to host a celebration ceremony but regrettably, we have decided to cancel the event due to an ongoing issue beyond our control.

"There are private defences along River Road in Littlehampton, immediately north of our new defences, which the river side land owner planned to repair and upgrade as part of their redevelopment of the site.

"Several months ago the owner informed us the redevelopment would not take place and the current poor state of the defences would not be addressed."

He said there were "robust contingency plans" in place for any risk of flooding and the EA was continuing to work with the landowner to reach a "longer term solution with minimum burden to taxpayers."