Developers hope to start building flats on the site of an historic Worthing seafront hotel by the end of the year.

Councillors approved the controversial plan for the old Warnes Hotel site in Marine Parade yesterday.

A similar proposal was rejected last year when they decided the design and scale were unacceptable.

But after poring over a revised version, the planning committee granted developer Roffey Homes permission to build a six-storey building with 72 flats.

Roffey agreed to provide nine flats as social housing and to contribute thousands of pounds to the town's Greening the Borough initiative.

And it promised to contribute up to £8,000 to improving highway facilities.

But it refused to pay a proposed £47,600 towards middle school places for the children whose families may move into the flats.

Borough council planning chairman Valerie Sutton said the company had argued there would not be an influx of families with children because of the cost of the prestige flats.

Coun Sutton said: "This is an important prestige site and all the members of the committee were aware of its importance."

The building's frontage will be art deco style, in contrast to the former Georgian splendour of The Warnes.

Robert Elleray, of the Worthing Society civic group, said: "We are still not wholly satisfied. We still think the original elements of the Regency design on the front would have been more acceptable."

But Coun Sutton said: "Everyone agreed the design was now what we would like to see there.

"We hope it is a design people in Worthing will look at in years to come and think, 'Yes, this is a landmark for the town'."

A spokesman for Roffey said: "We are obviously very pleased with the decision. It has been quite a long struggle but we are there now and we are hoping, subject to sorting out various legal agreements, to be starting building work by the end of the year."

This week, workmen began demolishing the last remaining block of the old hotel, which was destroyed by fire in the Eighties.

The site has been used as a car park for a number of years.