Police have launched a crackdown on late-night thuggery and vandalism after a public outcry.

Police made seventeen arrests on Friday and Saturday night as they launched Operation Marble to catch the hooligans.

Several dozen officers, some in riot helmets, were deployed in Worthing town centre to focus on the area near the town's main railway station in Railway Approach, and Brighton Road.

Police were responding to growing concern about violence in the town centre after the pubs shut at weekends.

Residents in Ambrose Place, just off Chapel Road, complained about drunks shouting and fighting. There were reports of cars being vandalised and damage to gardens.

Earlier this month a professor out walking his dogs on the seafront shortly after 11pm was hit in the face by a brick.

Prof Alain Presencer, an expert on Tibet, of Brighton Road, lay unconscious for 20 minutes. He was taken to Worthing Hospital, where he suffered a near-fatal heart attack while waiting for treatment.

Speaking from his intensive care bed, he called for a greater police presence on the streets.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Eyre said: "We have responded positively to incidents of public disorder with an operation that was intended to identify and deal with those responsible."

Town centre borough councillor Ailsa Stuart said the police crackdown was long overdue. She said: "I feel that had the police kept up a consistent serious presence in the town every weekend perhaps this crackdown could have been avoided."