Great-grandmothers and teenagers joined forces last night to vent their anger at traders they blame for the banning of a free music festival.

Passing motorists sounded their horns in support of an estimated 150 demonstrators carrying banners demanding that the Rox event stays on the seafront at Bognor, where it began 12 years ago.

The protest took place after organisers revealed they had been forced to abandon an application to use the seafront and were looking for an alternative venue outside the town.

The move followed a threat by John Ayres to refuse permission for his pier to be used for the town's crowd-pulling Birdman Rally unless the main Rox music stage was moved away from a site close to his business.

The event had also come under fire from other traders with concessions to operate attractions and kiosks on the seafront.

They claimed they lost money last year when 60,000 people packed the area to listen to three days of live music by bands which perform in pubs and clubs along the South Coast.

Rox organisers say talks are now taking place with several landowners about a new venue and an announcement is expected on Monday.

But last night Bognor residents turned out in force for to make it clear that they want Rox to stay on the promenade. Police watched from a discreet distance.

The protestors included teenage girls and two 80 year-old great-grandmothers, Dilys Walker and Edna Davies, who both live in the town.

Mrs Walker said: "I think it would be a terrible shame if it comes to an end. I enjoy Rox and so do my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

Mrs Davies said: "I can't understand why people are against it because it brings people and business into the town."

Pensioner Brenda Rawlins, who helped organise the first of several pro-Rox events, said she was pleased at the turnout.

Another demo organiser, Margaret Martin, said: "This has shown that Rox is not just for young people. The talk about violence breaking out was rubbish and I told the police it was going to be peaceful."

Also at the event were members of several bands who have appeared at Rox events, including Bognor based Maximum High.

They plan to perform near the pier on Sunday as part of a protest weekend, which will start with a march through the town tomorrow.

A spokesman for the Bognor Regis Tourism and Leisure Association, which represents seafront traders and whose members include Mr Ayres, said: "The seafront traders have never said that Rox cannot take place and the whole situation has been badly handled from start to finish.

"There should and could have been a compromise on the location of where everything could go."