WITH VIDEO: Protesters played a bank holiday game of rounders on a fenced-off beach in defiance of its French owners.

Locals took to Newhaven West Beach on Monday evening as the saga of its public access rumbles on.

Families played games, enjoyed picnics and went swimming as the sun set on a glorious evening.

Coun Carla Butler, East Sussex County Council member for Newhaven and Ouse Valley West, said that residents were “sick and tired of waiting”.

She added: “I can’t condone people taking the law into their own hands but it is the summer holidays and people want to use the beach.

“People feel very strongly about this.”

The French-owned Newhaven Port and Properties (NPP) closed the sandy stretch in 2006, citing safety reasons.

Earlier this year the Court of Appeal ruled that the beach could be registered as a village green and therefore should be open to the public.

However locals must now wait for the court to decide |on the subsequent NPP appeal.

Coun Butler added: “There is a real strength of feeling |in the town and these events could become a weekly thing.”