A council will decide today whether to allow permanent public access to a beach after a two year wrangle.

East Sussex County Council’s Commons and Village Green Registration Panel meets at 10am and will decide whether to grant village green status to the West Beach in Newhaven.

A planning inspector ruled in October that locals should have the right to use the beach after a two-day public inquiry.

It was closed more than two years ago after owners Newhaven Port and Properties (NPP), which owns the beach and the town’s port, said it was unsafe.

NPP has previously threatened to pull out of the town if the decision went against them.