A retired sailor has said Littlehampton is dead in the water as a working port.

Mervyn Bond, a retired Merchant Navy skipper of Tideway, Littlehampton, said local authorities had to pull together to raise what was now a dead port to a thriving maritime centre for the benefit of the town and its people.

He said: "The whole area on the east bank, south of the footbridge, has been totally redeveloped with high-density housing.

"The departure from the maritime scene leaves me with the impression that the town of Littlehampton wants little or nothing whatsoever to do with shipping of any sort in the future.

"At a glance, one can see there are no means of securing or berthing any sizeable vessel.

"I ask the question: 'Is Littlehampton harbour a port?' Perhaps it is just a yacht haven, with a small private commercial dock upstream.

"What little wharfage there has been on the east side of the river has now been removed or completely destroyed."

But John Sharwood, chief executive of Littlehampton Harbour Board, said: "I wouldn't agree with him. Although there hasn't been a great number of ships coming in, there are still about 200 a year, which has been the same for sometime."

Developers are building scores of homes on the east bank of the River Arun in a multi-million-pound scheme.

A series of events are being held this year to mark the 150th anniversary of the port becoming a town.