Owners of caravans at a controversial holiday park will find out tonight if their bid to buy it has been successful.

The Golden Sands site on Lancing seafront was put up for sale earlier this year by Adur District Council.

More than 20 offers have been made to buy the park, which was put on the market for £750,000.

They include a bid by existing owners of the 96 holiday homes who want to keep it out of the hands of developers.

The council has also received offers from a number of companies which already operate holiday parks.

Bids will be discussed when Adur's housing committee meets at the civic centre in Ham Road, Shoreham, tonight.

The public and media will be excluded while the financial details of the bids are discussed.

The council had threatened to ban caravan owners from their holiday homes this summer because of fears over possible fire risks.

Councillors were warned they could be held personally responsible for any financial claims resulting from an accident there.

The threat of a ban was lifted after residents threatened to take the council to court.

They were told they could continue to use their static caravans as long as the electricity supply to the park was switched off.

The owners agreed and are using car batteries to provide power to their homes instead.

Chris Jones, chairman of the Golden Sands Residents Association, told The Argus they were putting in a bid of about £65,000 a year for 25 years.

He said yesterday: "We had an interview with the council and discussed our plans with them.

"They asked us to put in a revised bid and now it is all in the hands of the councillors."

Many of the the owners have been using Golden Sands as a summer retreat for more than 30 years.

They spend the holiday season there and live the rest of the year abroad.

An Adur spokeswoman said: "I can confirm we have received more than 20 bids for Golden Sands.

"They include one from the residents and others from existing caravan park operators.

"We are having discussions with the preferred bidder and we will be able to say more after the committee meeting."