Former Eastbourne Borough defender Ben Austin has announced his retirement.

The 37-year-old spent 12 seasons at Priory Lane believes finishing his career with one-season stints at Eastbourne Town and Lewes.

Austin joined Borough while they were a County League club and was part of their meteoric rise to Conference premier.

He made 467 appearances for the club, captaining them for a number of seasons and even had a spell as caretaker manager prior to the appointment of Tommy Widdrington in February 2012.

After a season at Eastbourne Town, Austin rejoined former boss Garry Wilson at Lewes last summer and made 31 appearances for Lewes in 2013-14, scoring three goals, but missed the end of the campaign due to injury.

Lewes assistant manager Danny Bloor said: “Ben had made his decision and it is a decision we respect. He has played for both Garry and I before and Ben did very well for us last season.”

Lewes have signed centre-backs Ollie Rowe and Gary Elphick since the end of the season.