Four giant bronze busts worth a small fortune must stay where they are, a Government planning inspector has ruled.

Developer Humphrey Avon wanted to remove the giant heads, called Desert Quartet, from a plinth overlooking Liverpool Gardens in Worthing.

He planned to put the busts, sculpted by the late Dame Elisabeth Frink, in the garden of his Bramber home and replace them with statues of two dogs and two horses.

But Worthing planners refused to let him move them, saying the replacement sculptures were inferior.

Mr Avon, who developed the Montague Centre shopping precinct and commissioned the Desert Quartet as a decorative feature, appealed.

Now an inspector has backed the council, although he did suggest that if Mr Avon could come up with new sculptures of the same quality, he might be able to remove the busts.

Seafront campaigners suggested the Desert Quartet, which resemble the giant stone heads on Easter Island, could be repositioned on the seafront as part of a sculpture trail.

Dame Elisabeth is renowned as one of Britain's finest sculptors and her work has spiralled in value since her death.

Mr Avon was unavailable for comment.