A golf course boss has hit out at health and safety officials in a road sign row which threatens to damage his business.

Richard Haygarth, proprietor of Hill Barn Golf Course, Worthing, said there had been a sign on the A27, directing motorists up a lane to his downland club, for at least 25 years.

About 18 months ago the Highways Agency put up a new sign, which was later wrecked in a car accident on the Grove Lodge roundabout.

Mr Haygarth asked for it to be replaced, but was told: "It's not safe."

He said: "I was just gobsmacked. It's health and safety gone mad. How can everything be fine 18 months ago and not now? It seems absolutely ludicrous."

In an e-mail to Mr Haygarth, Highways Agency customer services manager Katarina Saradinova wrote: "I understand that the sign has been in place for the past 25 years.

"However, the standards for the istallation of signs have changed and positioning the sign so close to the roundabout would represent a safety hazard.

"As the sign would be visible from the roundabout, drivers could be making last moment decisions and change lanes when it's not safe.

"We were not consulted 18 months ago, when the sign was replaced, and I therefore cannot comment on that matter."

She also claimed that golf clubs did not qualify as a tourist destination if they did not attract a minimum of 150,000 visitors a year.

AIn another e-mail, a highways official from West Sussex County Council voiced concern about the possible cost of a new sign, which could run into four figures.

Mr Haygarth was stunned at what he branded "spurious excuses".

He pointed out that small bed and breakfast establishments in Worthing had directional signs.

Mr Haygarth added: "The traffic on the Grove Lodge roundabout now moves much slower than it did previously on account of the new traffic lights.

"I cannot accept the health and safety argument for not replacing the sign. There is no doubt in my mind that the lack of a sign has caused a loss of business."

A Highways Agency spokesman said: "If a sign is stolen or damaged then people have to reapply to get a replacement.

"In this instance we go through a number of procedures.

"In the last 20 years the rules have changed in terms of what signs we can put where.

"Under these new health and safety rules he (Richard Haygarth) does not qualify to have the sign put up."

Sensible traffic management or health and safety gone mad? Have your say at theargus.co.uk/news