The demolition of a car dealership has begun to make way for more than 100 flats.

Photographs show work has started to demolish Frosts Cars in Brighton Road in Shoreham ahead of the construction of 176 new waterfront apartments and business space.

Frosts Cars has now moved to a different location at Holmbush Roundabout in the town.

Adur District Council’s planning committee gave the green light to the scheme in March.

Councillors had rejected a previous application to develop the site but supported the amended scheme after the developer agreed to reduce the height of the apartment blocks and to make a number of design improvements.

The development will include public green spaces, a tree-lined central avenue, large roof gardens for residents, riverside cycling and pedestrian pathways, boules court and a play park for children.

Plans also included around 50 affordable homes and 600sqm of commercial space on the ground floor.

The Argus: Rubble at the siteRubble at the site (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

The council said the Frosts project, in Shoreham's Western Harbour Arm, will give the district an economic boost by providing new jobs and much-needed housing.

Councillor Steve Neocleous, Adur's cabinet member for regeneration and strategic planning, said: “The plans for the development at the Frosts site have been amended and I am pleased that there has been a reduction in height and a reduction in the density of development for this site.

“We want to support economic growth across the district and the regeneration of Shoreham Harbour is part of that plan as we continue our efforts to modernise the area and make it an attractive place to invest in.

“But our commitment is very much focusing on the environment and that is why we want to use brownfield sites as opposed to having to look at greenfield land to help solve the shortage of housing.”

The development is part of a wider scheme to regenerate Shoreham Harbour, a brownfield site, and give the area an “economic boost”.

It attracted a large amount of objection during the planning stages with residents raising concerns about air quality, parking and the scale of the development.