Protesters fighting to stop a housing development which will destroy ancient woodland have taken their battle to the developers.

Supporters of Titnore Woods, where a tree protest camp has been built in West Durrington, Worthing, took a letter to the Crawley office of construction firm Taylor Woodrow.

The company in Brighton Road is part of a consortium planning to build an 875-home estate with Heron Land Developments and Persimmon Homes.

The delegation from Protect Our Woodland unfurled a banner declaring "Hands Off Titnore Woods!" outside the offices before handing a letter to chief executive Iain Napier.

A spokesman for the group said: "We want to make the people behind this destructive scheme fully aware of the strength of feeling about Titnore Woods among Worthing people.

"It hasn't all been finalised yet and Taylor Woodrow still have a chance to avoid a lot of conflict, cost and ill feeling by abandoning their ill-conceived plans."

The letter, delivered on Friday, said the protesters were determined and well connected.

It said: "In light of this, we feel you may consider it would suit your company's interests to withdraw your involvement in the proposed development.

"In terms of spiralling costs, inconvenience and sheer bad publicity for Taylor Woodrow, we would suggest that continued collaboration with this hugely destructive and unpopular scheme would be a dramatic own goal for your business."

Mr Napier did not want to comment on the letter.

The Camp Titnore tree protest was set up at dawn on May 28 in the threatened woodland off Titnore Lane, Durrington, Worthing.

The eco-protesters have built a network of tree houses and say they are determined to stay on the site and prevent work from going ahead.