A £65,000 English Heritage grant will help rejuvenate Worthing, council chiefs said today.

Campaigners are confident the money will be matched in successive years as a rolling programme of improvements is carried out.

The cash follows a bid by Worthing Borough Council for £300,000.

Economic development manager Tim Preston said the sheer number of bids from all over the country probably explained why Worthing's allocation was reduced.

But over three years the town could still secure almost £200,000.

Mr Preston said: "The challenge now is to work up a detailed spending plan with English Heritage."

The promenade has already received a £150,000 boost from the council this year, which will pay for the planting of palm trees between Splash Point and Western Place next spring, and the restoration of a beach shelter near the Lido.

Some of the English Heritage money could be used to restore the original glass lanterns on the decorative columns lining the esplanade, and to turn empty flats above shops into homes.

The rest of the cash will be earmarked for "secondary shopping streets", such as Brighton Road and Rowlands Road.

Shopkeepers and restaurateurs in the Rowlands Road area recently formed the West End Traders' Association, which is pressing for improvements such as the installation of a decorative arch.