Archive

  • Sacked for being sick

    An office worker who was sacked while seriously ill in hospital has won £2,000 compensation at an employment tribunal. Janet French, 59, successfully claimed she was unfairly dismissed after her boss failed to officially discuss her medical condition

  • No dumping ground

    M Dyson (Letters, April 24) made an interesting point about Newhaven being the best place for Brighton and Hove Albion's stadium. Unfortunately, it is too far away according to the FA rules. Also, the site is earmarked for a monstrous incinerator to deal

  • Musical history goes missing

    A renowned opera singer's priceless musical legacy has gone missing after the closure of part of a library. When renowned tenor Richard Lewis died in 1989 he left behind a unique insight into the life of a music legend. Forty musical manuscripts, all

  • Flag gag

    If all the residents of the block of flats in Leahurst Court Road displayed the St George's flag in their windows (April 25), would Parsons Son and Basley evict all their tenants? -R Ettridge, Shoreham

  • Drug bug

    My girlfriend and I moved to Waterloo Street, off the Western Road on the Brighton-Hove border, in August 2001. In this short period we have seen people openly jacking up heroin under street lights in Brunswick Square, I had a bag stolen from my hallway

  • Racing legend relives crash

    Forty years ago this week, a horrific crash ended motorsport legend Sir Stirling Moss's career - and almost ended his life. The world held its breath as Moss's car careered out of control at the notorious Fordwater bend at Goodwood's racing circuit on

  • Listen now

    I would have hoped the stunning success of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the French presidential elections would have made mainstream politicians sit up and start to take notice of people's concerns. Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case. Tony Blair gave out

  • Table tennis: Bid for tenth cup

    Ritchie Venner will bid for his tenth win in the Seaman Cup at Horsham on Sunday (2pm). The holder held off fellow Sussex ace Adrian Moore at 21-19 in the fifth game of last year's final. Moore is unavailable but the rest of the Sussex elite squad will

  • Taylor set for crunch talks

    Albion chief Peter Taylor will have more key talks with chairman Dick Knight next week in a bid to resolve his future. It follows a "positive meeting" yesterday on a range of issues, topped by the budget Taylor will be given for Division One next season

  • 2,000 drivers caught on camera

    Speed cameras at the side of roads trap more than 2,000 motorists a year in Sussex. But Sussex Police remain in a minority by not making cameras more visible to drivers. A total of 24 forces in England and Wales have joined an initiative to paint cameras

  • Trangmar forced to quit

    Don Trangmar has been forced out as chairman of Sussex County Cricket Club in a committee room revolt. The 61-year-old, who has had the top job at Hove for four years, resigned yesterday and was immediately replaced by David Green. The club's official

  • Trying it for the first time

    Applications are flying in to the Where Else campaign office as residents rush to win grants to try out new activities. The campaign, which is supporting Brighton and Hove's bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008, has launched a scheme called

  • Absentee costs rise by £1bn

    The cost of workplace absence increased by more than £1 billion last year even though fewer working days were lost. The number of working days lost compared with 2000 fell by 16 million to 176 million, the lowest figure recorded by the CBI since its records

  • Dog survives 40ft plunge

    Leo the Labrador fell 40ft on to the pavement when he jumped from a third-floor window in pursuit of a squirrel. The boisterous black Labrador was watching the world go by from the window of a flat where his owner, Colin Rowland, was carrying out some

  • Murder trial told of getaway van

    The getaway van used in the murder of Mohammed Raja was sold to a man in his 20s a month before, a jury heard today. The white C-registration Ford Transit was found burned out a few streets from Mr Raja's home after the killing on July 2, 1999. When sold

  • Police fears over late bar plan

    A senior police officer has pledged his support for Worthing Council in its fight to stop a new pub staying open until midnight. Worthing Borough Council has put by a £40,000 fighting fund to oppose the plans by pub giant Bar Med, which wants to open

  • Shop worker's tribunal bid fails

    A shop assistant who suffers from a bad back has lost her claim for compensation after she was sacked for taking time off work. Leia Guntley, 20, claimed she was discriminated against on the grounds of her disability by Boots the Chemist. But an employment

  • More help for children at risk

    Services for vulnerable children and young people in a city are to be improved. Measures include an anti-bullying action plan for children who are looked after by Brighton and Hove City Council. There will also be a substance misuse treatment service

  • RMJ: We'll have to scrap like terriers

    Slowly but surely the squad is pulling itself together as the shock of Umer Rashid 's death recedes. We will never forget his charismatic smile and energy that lit up the dressing room on the dullest of days but Umer was a positive character and he surely

  • Holiday cash offer for robbery victim

    A good Samaritan has replaced £260 stolen from a pensioner by an intruder who barged into her home. Readers of The Argus were shocked by our story about Grace Wilks, 79, who lost part of her finger after she challenged the bare-chested thug. Brighton

  • Beaten up, then shot

    Police have launched an attempted murder inquiry after a man was beaten with a metal bar, then shot as he limped away. The victim's left leg was broken when he was attacked with the bar. Amazingly, he grappled with the attacker, wrested the weapon from

  • Plane spotters' spy trial starts

    A group of British plane spotters, including a Horsham man, were today accused of endangering Greece's national security. The espionage trial of the 12, who were arrested at an airfield in Kalamata, southern Greece, started today. They are accused of

  • Village fight over school

    Angmering villagers are being called into action in a bid to stop the local primary school from expanding. For the second time in two years, residents in the village, near Littlehampton, are being asked to fight expansion plans at St Margaret's Primary

  • Glass roof pane scare

    A pane from a glass roof fell out and shattered in the middle of a shopping arcade in Worthing town centre. No one was injured by the glass, which fell while there were no shoppers in the Montague Centre. Centre manager, Alan Miles, said: "I don't know

  • Salvation Army fire

    Firefighters were called to deal with a blaze at a Salvation Army meeting hall. Flames spread through the building in Canada Grove, Bognor, just before 8pm yesterday. It took the brigade about two hours to bring the fire under control. A fire investigation

  • 28 reasons

    Tory shadow minister Alan Duncan displayed his own and his party's ignorance of the gay community when he was confronted by demonstrators in Margaret Thatcher and John Major masks at the recent Tory "meet the gay community" event in Brighton. Contrary

  • Lucky Leo

    Leo the Labrador has confounded experts by leaping 40ft out of a window at flats to chase a squirrel and surviving with only minor injuries. His owner, Colin Rowland, of Nevill Road in Hove, attributes the dog's remarkable survival to his fitness. He

  • Drug bug

    My girlfriend and I moved to Waterloo Street, off the Western Road on the Brighton-Hove border, in August 2001. In this short period we have seen people openly jacking up heroin under street lights in Brunswick Square, I had a bag stolen from my hallway

  • Take note

    Eastbourne library has added insult to injury over music scores it was donated by Elizabeth Muir-Lewis. First it closed the music library at Eastbourne, which had been intended to house the unique scores belonging originally to her late husband, tenor

  • Racing legend relives crash

    Forty years ago this week, a horrific crash ended motorsport legend Sir Stirling Moss's career - and almost ended his life. The world held its breath as Moss's car careered out of control at the notorious Fordwater bend at Goodwood's racing circuit on

  • Table tennis: Bid for tenth cup

    Ritchie Venner will bid for his tenth win in the Seaman Cup at Horsham on Sunday (2pm). The holder held off fellow Sussex ace Adrian Moore at 21-19 in the fifth game of last year's final. Moore is unavailable but the rest of the Sussex elite squad will

  • Cycling: Sussex trio's delight

    Three Sussex riders were among the successful four-man breakaway in the Brighton Excelsior's 60-mile road race at Barcombe. But London rider Simon Farmer won the final sprint. Andy Green (Brighton Mitre) and Mark Jones (GS Stella) staged an early attack

  • April 25: Sussex v Somerset (CC)

    Murray Goodwin played one of the best innings seen at Hove for years, but Sussex still came up short on day one of the Championship match against Somerset. The Zimbabwean made 162 at nearly a run a ball, but apart from Richard Montgomerie and James Kirtley

  • Taylor set for crunch talks

    Albion chief Peter Taylor will have more key talks with chairman Dick Knight next week in a bid to resolve his future. It follows a "positive meeting" yesterday on a range of issues, topped by the budget Taylor will be given for Division One next season

  • Trangmar forced to quit

    Don Trangmar has been forced out as chairman of Sussex County Cricket Club in a committee room revolt. The 61-year-old, who has had the top job at Hove for four years, resigned yesterday and was immediately replaced by David Green. The club's official

  • Trying it for the first time

    Applications are flying in to the Where Else campaign office as residents rush to win grants to try out new activities. The campaign, which is supporting Brighton and Hove's bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008, has launched a scheme called

  • Boy's abduction ordeal

    A boy was subjected to a terrifying abduction attempt as he walked down an alleyway in Crawley. The 11-year-old was grabbed by a man in a pathway connecting Upper Shoreham Road and Rosemary Drive, Shoreham. The boy managed to escape from the man's grip

  • Absentee costs rise by £1bn

    The cost of workplace absence increased by more than £1 billion last year even though fewer working days were lost. The number of working days lost compared with 2000 fell by 16 million to 176 million, the lowest figure recorded by the CBI since its records

  • Channel bombs blown up

    Bomb disposal experts have blown up two military shells dredged up in the Channel close to busy Newhaven port. The shells were detonated underwater a mile from Seaford Head, where they were found by the dredger Arco Dee two miles from Newhaven. They were

  • Free laptops for councillors

    Laptop computers are to be given to every elected member of Eastbourne Borough Council at a cost of £50,000. Councillors voted to push forward the proposal by councillor Bob Lacey. But opposition councillor Bert Leggett said the plan sent the wrong signal

  • Boy's abduction ordeal

    A boy was subjected to a terrifying abduction attempt as he walked down an alleyway in Shoreham. The 11-year-old was grabbed by a man in a pathway connecting Upper Shoreham Road and Rosemary Drive. The boy managed to escape from the man's grip by shouting

  • Murder trial told of getaway van

    The getaway van used in the murder of Mohammed Raja was sold to a man in his 20s a month before, a jury heard today. The white C-registration Ford Transit was found burned out a few streets from Mr Raja's home after the killing on July 2, 1999. When sold

  • Simon protest: Two arrested

    Campaigners calling for better working conditions for casual staff blocked a busy road junction for a demonstration. The day of action was organised in memory of Simon Jones, 24, who died four years ago after an accident on his first day as a casual worker

  • Beaten up, then shot

    Police have launched an attempted murder inquiry after a man was beaten with a metal bar, then shot as he limped away. The victim's left leg was broken when he was attacked with the bar. Amazingly, he grappled with the attacker, wrested the weapon from

  • June 12 D-Day for Albion

    Plans for a Brighton and Hove community stadium at Falmer will go before a special council meeting on June 12. Brighton & Hove Albion has submitted two applications for the stadium on sites at Village Way North and Village Way South. The city council's

  • Cliffs centre won't reopen

    Campaigners are disappointed after a bid to reopen the popular Beachy Head Countryside Centre failed. Liberal Democrat councillors tabled a proposal to reopen the centre, near Eastbourne. Tory-led Eastbourne Council closed it last month due to large losses

  • Sacked for being sick

    An office worker who was sacked while seriously ill in hospital has won £2,000 compensation at an employment tribunal. Janet French, 59, successfully claimed she was unfairly dismissed after her boss failed to officially discuss her medical condition

  • Sense and humour

    Good on Councillor Daniel Yates for trying to liven up Adur District Council's meeting by injecting some humour (April 23). While council meetings are serious business there need to be moments of light relief, otherwise these meetings become staid. -Martin

  • Car trouble

    I was very pleased to see the planning application for Brighton's West Pier but was quite surprised not to see one for a car park because, whenever I look out of my window on to the pier, all I see on the pier now are cars. -Rebecca Brown, Regency Square

  • No dumping ground

    M Dyson (Letters, April 24) made an interesting point about Newhaven being the best place for Brighton and Hove Albion's stadium. Unfortunately, it is too far away according to the FA rules. Also, the site is earmarked for a monstrous incinerator to deal

  • The Sage Of Sussex: Adam Trimingham

    It is easy to be smug looking across to France and the astonishing success of the National Front to conclude it could never happen here. Easy but wrong. You have only to note the success of the British National Party in northern towns such as Oldham to

  • Musical history goes missing

    A renowned opera singer's priceless musical legacy has gone missing after the closure of part of a library. When renowned tenor Richard Lewis died in 1989 he left behind a unique insight into the life of a music legend. Forty musical manuscripts, all

  • Beaten up, then shot

    Police have launched an attempted murder inquiry after a man was beaten with a metal bar, then shot as he limped away. The victim's left leg was broken when he was attacked with the bar. Amazingly, he grappled with the attacker, wrested the weapon from

  • Neighbours' joy as fields saved

    Seaford residents are celebrating after a planning inspector agreed land near their homes should not be turned into recreation grounds. More than 500 people criticised plans to develop farm fields off Chyngton Way because they feared it would pave the

  • Cliffs centre won't reopen

    Campaigners are disappointed after a bid to reopen the popular Beachy Head Countryside Centre failed. Liberal Democrat councillors tabled a proposal to reopen the centre, near Eastbourne. Tory-led Eastbourne Council closed it last month due to large losses

  • Free laptops for councillors

    Laptop computers are to be given to every elected member of Eastbourne Borough Council at a cost of £50,000. Councillors voted to push forward the proposal by councillor Bob Lacey. But opposition councillor Bert Leggett said the plan sent the wrong signal

  • Musical history goes missing

    A renowned opera singer's priceless musical legacy has gone missing after the closure of part of an Eastbourne library. When renowned tenor Richard Lewis died in 1989 he left behind a unique insight into the life of a music legend. Forty musical manuscripts

  • Shop worker's tribunal bid fails

    A shop assistant who suffers from a bad back has lost her claim for compensation after she was sacked for taking time off work. Leia Guntley, 20, claimed she was discriminated against on the grounds of her disability by Boots the Chemist. But an employment

  • Sacked for being sick

    A Mid Sussex firm has been ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to an office worker who was sacked while seriously ill in hospital. Janet French, 59, successfully claimed she was unfairly dismissed after her boss failed to officially discuss her medical

  • Cash blow to theatre

    A troubled West Sussex theatre has suffered another blow after the fire brigade deemed its seats a hazard. The Windmill Complex in Littlehampton, which already faces a £500,000 bill for repairs despite a subsidy, has been told it must replace its seating

  • Police fears over late bar plan

    A senior police officer has pledged his support for Worthing Council in its fight to stop a new pub staying open until midnight. Worthing Borough Council has put by a £40,000 fighting fund to oppose the plans by pub giant Bar Med, which wants to open

  • June 12 D-Day for Albion

    Plans for a Brighton and Hove community stadium at Falmer will go before a special council meeting on June 12. Brighton & Hove Albion has submitted two applications for the stadium on sites at Village Way North and Village Way South. The city council's

  • Artistic impression

    Regarding Don McBeth's attempt to show what the new stadium at Falmer would look like (Letters, April 19), can I just say that I have a tube of glue and would be happy to stick a couple of photos together to show the stadium at Brighton station, next

  • Boost for organic farmers

    West Sussex organic farmers have been promised Government backing to win a bigger share of the growing UK market. But a minister ruled out trying to introduce controls on cheap imports, saying growth would have to be achieved through efficiency and marketing

  • Flag gag

    If all the residents of the block of flats in Leahurst Court Road displayed the St George's flag in their windows (April 25), would Parsons Son and Basley evict all their tenants? -R Ettridge, Shoreham

  • Too ugly by far

    Paul O'Grady (Lily Savage) suffered a serious heart attack last week. We wish him a speedy recovery. Not so to the ailing drag acts of Britain. Drag is at last unfashionable. We wonder why it has taken so long for the real message of drag to reach home

  • Liquid asset

    It was reported motorists should scratch their name on their property to assist the police in returning to owners any stolen property that they have recovered ("Stolen property", The Argus, April 19). There is a better idea than that. Contact your local

  • No pub link to siege

    A rooftop siege by teenagers had no connection with a nearby pub, police confirmed today. The Argus reported yesterday how Broadwater Street West, Worthing, was cordoned off for two hours as armed police surrounded a building on Tuesday at 9.35pm after

  • Listen now

    I would have hoped the stunning success of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the French presidential elections would have made mainstream politicians sit up and start to take notice of people's concerns. Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case. Tony Blair gave out

  • Striving for better city

    Brighton and Hove has staged a remarkable economic revival during the last decade. After being down in the dumps, it is now a thriving city where visitors, firms and residents want to be. However, its economy is still fragile and much more work needs

  • Some friend

    I marched with two other local councillors, Francis Tonks and Joyce Edmond-Smith, from Palmeira Square to the seafront and along towards the Palace Pier. There were about 500 men, women and children, the majority of whom had their origins in the Middle

  • Reclaim society for the good of the kids

    How sad we live in an age when young girls such as Milly can disappear on a short walk home. We form Neighbourhood Watch schemes to protect our property yet our children seem to be in danger from the paedophiliac society we have allowed to be created

  • Thank Goodness for Goodwin

    Murray Goodwin played one of the best innings seen at Hove for years, but Sussex still came up short on day one of the Championship match against Somerset. The Zimbabwean made 162 at nearly a run a ball, but apart from Richard Montgomerie and James Kirtley

  • 2,000 drivers caught on camera

    Speed cameras at the side of roads trap more than 2,000 motorists a year in Sussex. But Sussex Police remain in a minority by not making cameras more visible to drivers. A total of 24 forces in England and Wales have joined an initiative to paint cameras

  • Sparrows beat the seagulls

    Seagulls failed to make the top ten list of birds visiting Sussex gardens this year. Almost 10,000 people in East and West Sussex spent an hour in their gardens or parks logging the number of feathered friends who visited. The results of the RSPB Big

  • Boy's abduction ordeal

    A boy was subjected to a terrifying abduction attempt as he walked down an alleyway in Shoreham. The 11-year-old was grabbed by a man in a pathway connecting Upper Shoreham Road and Rosemary Drive. The boy managed to escape from the man's grip by shouting

  • Capital of Culture clash

    A top city councillor last night told opponents of Brighton and Hove's Capital of Culture campaign to "stop whinging". There has been opposition to the bid by Brighton and Hove to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008. But at a Brighton and Hove

  • Holiday firm's bouncing back

    Tour operator First Choice Holidays said the recovery in its mainstream business had continued in recent weeks. The Crawley-based group added its specialist holiday arm was also bouncing back and it was confident about the outcome for the full year. First

  • Plane spotters' spy trial starts

    A group of British plane spotters, including a Horsham man, were today accused of endangering Greece's national security. The espionage trial of the 12, who were arrested at an airfield in Kalamata, southern Greece, started today. They are accused of

  • Dog survives 40ft plunge

    Leo the Labrador fell 40ft on to the pavement when he jumped from a third-floor window in pursuit of a squirrel. The boisterous black Labrador was watching the world go by from the window of a flat where his owner, Colin Rowland, was carrying out some

  • Police fears over late bar plan

    A senior police officer has pledged his support for Worthing Council in its fight to stop a new pub staying open until midnight. Worthing Borough Council has put by a £40,000 fighting fund to oppose the plans by pub giant Bar Med, which wants to open

  • A city divided

    Brighton and Hove is a divided city with a widening gulf between the rich and poor, a report reveals today. On one side of the gap are the young, affluent professionals who embody the city's image as the buzzing cultural capital of the South-East. However

  • The bins depot dynasty

    Where there's muck there's brass, and for dustman Steve Pilbeam that has been true for three generations of his family. Six members of Steve's clan have dedicated their lives to clearing the streets of Brighton and Hove, clocking up a combined total of

  • Shop worker's tribunal bid fails

    A shop assistant who suffers from a bad back has lost her claim for compensation after she was sacked for taking time off work. Leia Guntley, 20, claimed she was discriminated against on the grounds of her disability by Boots the Chemist. But an employment

  • More help for children at risk

    Services for vulnerable children and young people in a city are to be improved. Measures include an anti-bullying action plan for children who are looked after by Brighton and Hove City Council. There will also be a substance misuse treatment service

  • RMJ: We'll have to scrap like terriers

    Slowly but surely the squad is pulling itself together as the shock of Umer Rashid 's death recedes. We will never forget his charismatic smile and energy that lit up the dressing room on the dullest of days but Umer was a positive character and he surely

  • Sense and humour

    Good on Councillor Daniel Yates for trying to liven up Adur District Council's meeting by injecting some humour (April 23). While council meetings are serious business there need to be moments of light relief, otherwise these meetings become staid. -Martin

  • Car trouble

    I was very pleased to see the planning application for Brighton's West Pier but was quite surprised not to see one for a car park because, whenever I look out of my window on to the pier, all I see on the pier now are cars. -Rebecca Brown, Regency Square

  • The Sage Of Sussex: Adam Trimingham

    It is easy to be smug looking across to France and the astonishing success of the National Front to conclude it could never happen here. Easy but wrong. You have only to note the success of the British National Party in northern towns such as Oldham to

  • Holiday cash offer for robbery victim

    A good Samaritan has replaced £260 stolen from a pensioner by an intruder who barged into her home. Readers of The Argus were shocked by our story about Grace Wilks, 79, who lost part of her finger after she challenged the bare-chested thug. Brighton

  • June 12 D-Day for Albion

    Plans for a Brighton and Hove community stadium at Falmer will go before a special council meeting on June 12. Brighton & Hove Albion has submitted two applications for the stadium on sites at Village Way North and Village Way South. The city council's

  • Artistic impression

    Regarding Don McBeth's attempt to show what the new stadium at Falmer would look like (Letters, April 19), can I just say that I have a tube of glue and would be happy to stick a couple of photos together to show the stadium at Brighton station, next

  • Too ugly by far

    Paul O'Grady (Lily Savage) suffered a serious heart attack last week. We wish him a speedy recovery. Not so to the ailing drag acts of Britain. Drag is at last unfashionable. We wonder why it has taken so long for the real message of drag to reach home

  • Liquid asset

    It was reported motorists should scratch their name on their property to assist the police in returning to owners any stolen property that they have recovered ("Stolen property", The Argus, April 19). There is a better idea than that. Contact your local

  • 28 reasons

    Tory shadow minister Alan Duncan displayed his own and his party's ignorance of the gay community when he was confronted by demonstrators in Margaret Thatcher and John Major masks at the recent Tory "meet the gay community" event in Brighton. Contrary

  • Lucky Leo

    Leo the Labrador has confounded experts by leaping 40ft out of a window at flats to chase a squirrel and surviving with only minor injuries. His owner, Colin Rowland, of Nevill Road in Hove, attributes the dog's remarkable survival to his fitness. He

  • No pub link to siege

    A rooftop siege by teenagers had no connection with a nearby pub, police confirmed today. The Argus reported yesterday how Broadwater Street West, Worthing, was cordoned off for two hours as armed police surrounded a building on Tuesday at 9.35pm after

  • Take note

    Eastbourne library has added insult to injury over music scores it was donated by Elizabeth Muir-Lewis. First it closed the music library at Eastbourne, which had been intended to house the unique scores belonging originally to her late husband, tenor

  • Striving for better city

    Brighton and Hove has staged a remarkable economic revival during the last decade. After being down in the dumps, it is now a thriving city where visitors, firms and residents want to be. However, its economy is still fragile and much more work needs

  • Some friend

    I marched with two other local councillors, Francis Tonks and Joyce Edmond-Smith, from Palmeira Square to the seafront and along towards the Palace Pier. There were about 500 men, women and children, the majority of whom had their origins in the Middle

  • Reclaim society for the good of the kids

    How sad we live in an age when young girls such as Milly can disappear on a short walk home. We form Neighbourhood Watch schemes to protect our property yet our children seem to be in danger from the paedophiliac society we have allowed to be created

  • Cycling: Sussex trio's delight

    Three Sussex riders were among the successful four-man breakaway in the Brighton Excelsior's 60-mile road race at Barcombe. But London rider Simon Farmer won the final sprint. Andy Green (Brighton Mitre) and Mark Jones (GS Stella) staged an early attack

  • April 25: Sussex v Somerset (CC)

    Murray Goodwin played one of the best innings seen at Hove for years, but Sussex still came up short on day one of the Championship match against Somerset. The Zimbabwean made 162 at nearly a run a ball, but apart from Richard Montgomerie and James Kirtley

  • Thank Goodness for Goodwin

    Murray Goodwin played one of the best innings seen at Hove for years, but Sussex still came up short on day one of the Championship match against Somerset. The Zimbabwean made 162 at nearly a run a ball, but apart from Richard Montgomerie and James Kirtley

  • Sparrows beat the seagulls

    Seagulls failed to make the top ten list of birds visiting Sussex gardens this year. Almost 10,000 people in East and West Sussex spent an hour in their gardens or parks logging the number of feathered friends who visited. The results of the RSPB Big

  • Capital of Culture clash

    A top city councillor last night told opponents of Brighton and Hove's Capital of Culture campaign to "stop whinging". There has been opposition to the bid by Brighton and Hove to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008. But at a Brighton and Hove

  • Holiday firm's bouncing back

    Tour operator First Choice Holidays said the recovery in its mainstream business had continued in recent weeks. The Crawley-based group added its specialist holiday arm was also bouncing back and it was confident about the outcome for the full year. First

  • Channel bombs blown up

    Bomb disposal experts have blown up two military shells dredged up in the Channel close to busy Newhaven port. The shells were detonated underwater a mile from Seaford Head, where they were found by the dredger Arco Dee two miles from Newhaven. They were

  • Free laptops for councillors

    Laptop computers are to be given to every elected member of Eastbourne Borough Council at a cost of £50,000. Councillors voted to push forward the proposal by councillor Bob Lacey. But opposition councillor Bert Leggett said the plan sent the wrong signal

  • Plane spotters' spy trial starts

    A group of British plane spotters, including a Horsham man, were today accused of endangering Greece's national security. The espionage trial of the 12, who were arrested at an airfield in Kalamata, southern Greece, started today. They are accused of

  • Boy's abduction ordeal

    A boy was subjected to a terrifying abduction attempt as he walked down an alleyway in Shoreham. The 11-year-old was grabbed by a man in a pathway connecting Upper Shoreham Road and Rosemary Drive. The boy managed to escape from the man's grip by shouting

  • Simon protest: Two arrested

    Campaigners calling for better working conditions for casual staff blocked a busy road junction for a demonstration. The day of action was organised in memory of Simon Jones, 24, who died four years ago after an accident on his first day as a casual worker

  • Beaten up, then shot

    Police have launched an attempted murder inquiry after a man was beaten with a metal bar, then shot as he limped away. The victim's left leg was broken when he was attacked with the bar. Amazingly, he grappled with the attacker, wrested the weapon from

  • A city divided

    Brighton and Hove is a divided city with a widening gulf between the rich and poor, a report reveals today. On one side of the gap are the young, affluent professionals who embody the city's image as the buzzing cultural capital of the South-East. However

  • Cliffs centre won't reopen

    Campaigners are disappointed after a bid to reopen the popular Beachy Head Countryside Centre failed. Liberal Democrat councillors tabled a proposal to reopen the centre, near Eastbourne. Tory-led Eastbourne Council closed it last month due to large losses

  • The bins depot dynasty

    Where there's muck there's brass, and for dustman Steve Pilbeam that has been true for three generations of his family. Six members of Steve's clan have dedicated their lives to clearing the streets of Brighton and Hove, clocking up a combined total of