Police cordoned off the entrances to Worthing Pier as mountainous seas battered the coast, casting pebbles onto the promenade.

The beach was littered with wood from the Ice Prince shipwreck, though the quantity was tiny compared to the 2,000-tonne deluge of timber in January.

It was believed the wood might have been washed back into the sea by giant waves pounding stacks of planks on the shingle opposite Heene Road.

The sight of newly wood-strewn beaches was a major setback for gangs of workmen, known as "riddlers", who have spent weeks combing the shore for splinters in the hope that most public beaches would be reopened for Easter.

At East Worthing, near the Half Brick pub, a fishing boat was blown off the beach onto the pavement.

Several beach huts at Lancing were wrecked by gale force gusts.

Part of Worthing's main shopping precinct, at Holders Corner, Montague Street, was sealed off after masonry fell 30ft from the roof of Monsoon.

There were similar scenes at Lyons Farm retail complex, off Upper Brighton Road, Worthing, when tiles were dislodged from Boots.

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