What a fantastic week half-term has been weatherwise.

Temperatures touched 26 degrees, hotter than the Mediterranean, and there was no finer place to be than good old Worthing.

The beach was packed and some people even dipped their toes in the briny, which has not yet fully shaken off the shackles of winter.

The Lido did a thriving trade, with Dave Hunt's bouncy castle a major draw, and the cafes were brimming with customers, many of them from out of town judging by the coaches parked in West Parade.

Last Wednesday evening I was sitting on the balcony of the Burlington Hotel enjoying a pint and soaking up the balmy atmosphere.

The new cordyline trees, now stretching to Wordsworth Road, gave the seafront a tropical feeling.

The decorative lights twinkled and families were walking on the promenade until at least 10pm.

The sea was completely flat, shining silver in the twilight. A faint sea mist added to the dream-like scene.

Happily, the drunks who occasionally infest the beach shelters were nowhere to be seen and anybody visiting the town for the first time probably secured a copy of Property Weekly with a view to buying a holiday home.

It is on evenings like these when the money spent on the seafront improvements takes on almost visionary proportions.

The council has even painted the southern pavilion of the pier the same colour as the rest of it.

Many people breathed a sigh of despair when a short-sighted Liberal Democrat council put the blocks on further seafront spending this year.

But Worthing Hospitality Association saved the day and everybody who has the privilege of living in this town should offer their thanks.

Clearly, there is now a case for even more planting next year, when the budget is restored.

If the council gets the seafront right, Worthing will certainly get a better write-up nationally than it has in past years. And from such publicity, prosperity will undoubtedly follow.

The pubs and clubs of Worthing have spread like wildfire in recent years.

Every weekend, Chapel Road and the surrounding streets are packed with revellers with money to spend.

The hostelries must take tens of thousands of pounds but how much are they pumping into the economy?

When The Argus published a roll of honour featuring the businesses that had contributed to the Christmas lights appeal, very few pubs and clubs got a mention.

But if each contributed, let us say, £1,000 to a general fund, then major improvements could be made to the town centre, to the benefit of all.

Every time I visit the Assembly Hall, my attention is always drawn by the three stone faces staring with horror from the facade above the main entrance.

They resemble the faces of certain Liberal Democrat councillors when they realised the Tories would be power-sharing with them this year.