ORGANISERS of a near century-old bowls competition claim it has been killed off by “unaffordable” parking charges – but the council says it is not to blame.

The team behind the fortnight-long Worthing Unified Bowls tournament says it was forced to pull the plug after Worthing Borough Council introduced a £2 daily fee for parking spaces at Beach House Park.

Parking at the Lyndhurst Road site has always been kept free for the duration of the tournament.

But committee member Brian Dunne estimates players and spectators will now have to shell out well over £2,000 between them for the two weeks.

Mr Dunne, 82, said “We are saying this is a special case.

“It’s a historic tournament which brings in between £50,000 and £75,000 to the local economy – and they are arguing about a couple of thousand. We feel absolutely let down by the council.”

He said the scale of the event, which relies entirely on sponsorship from local businesses, made it impractical to charge visitors.

“We can’t implement it,” he said.

“There are four old-age pensioners running this, so even if they gave it to us for 50p we wouldn’t have the bodies to start collecting money.

“We just don’t have the wherewithal to do it.”

A council spokesman said the authority had done all it could to accommodate the bowls club since adding extra parking spaces and installing pay-and-display machines late last year.

He said: “We are disappointed that the organisers have seen fit to blame car park charges for the

cancellation of the tournament and question whether this really is a disincentive for bowlers to play in this tournament.

“We have had several meetings with the organisers and offered them a number of heavily discounted options for cut-price parking for the duration of the tournament.

“It is not true that we have refused to supply guaranteed designated parking places.

“However we have recently invested in upgrading car parks including the resurfacing and extension of the Lyndhurst Car Park to offer improved facilities for the whole town.

“We have to be seen to be fair to all residents, town centre workers, hospital visitors, tourists and indeed all organisations and sporting clubs who use the town centre car parks for sports, business and leisure pursuits.

“We should also add that we have invested heavily in bowls facilities and indeed we subsidise bowls more than any other sport in the borough.”

Beach House bowls green, which also hosted the national bowls championships until it moved to Leamington Spa, has been home to a popular open since 1933.

Mr Dunne said families routinely travel from towns such as Torquay and Gloucester to take part in the event, which was the first in the country to cater for men and women simultaneously.

“It will really be missed,” he said.

“I’ve been getting phone calls asking if there’s anything we can do, but it’s dead in the water unless the council changes its mind.

“All the local folk are very upset.”