Like Tony Cookson, I used to enjoy driving to Newhaven beach (Letters, March 19), taking a lunchtime snack or buying fish and chips to sit there for a couple of hours taking in the calm sea and watching the boats come and go.

Most of us who went there were senior citizens and looked forward to this little outing. Imagine my anger when last week I arrived to be met by steel gates. The only thing missing was guards with machine guns. A number of people used to enjoy fishing there. Why take these pleasures away?

Surely the French owners could find some money to do repairs. As Mr Cookson stated, these gates must have cost a few pounds so why not put this towards the cost of repairs?

Closing the car park has taken away a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people. On behalf of all the people in Newhaven and surrounding district who have lost the enjoyment of using this area, I urge the French owners to look into this matter and let us have our car park back.

  • Brian Eames, South Coast Road, Newhaven