Students and young people have been asked to share their views on a city centre.

Chichester District Council has launched a survey to assess people’s experiences on nights out in the city.

It comes as residents said the city is “dying” and "young people are leaving" in the wake of the axing of a Christmas ice rink.

The council hoped to return an ice rink to Priory Park for Christmas after including it in its project proposals for the year. The rink was there in 2018.

However, the council announced the festive addition, which welcomed more than 19,000 skaters, was not feasible due to “costs”.

A sign was set up in Priory Park to commemorate the lossA sign was set up in Priory Park to commemorate the loss (Image: Chichester Anti-Recreation Partnership) One person said: “No wonder Chichester is dying and many young people are leaving.

“It was only for a short while so people of all ages could enjoy it. No trouble, just fun, limited evening hours.

“Chichester needs to embrace the new and the old. Other places have combined the two and grown.”

Councillor Harsha Desai, cabinet member for economic development and communications, licensing and events, said: “We understand how important the night-time economy is for Chichester city centre, so much so that we have established a dedicated Chichester evening and night-time working group in order to deliver improvements for both businesses and visitors between the hours of 5pm and 5am.

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“We're delighted that more than 2,500 people have already filled in the survey but as a council we want to ensure that the city centre has something for everyone, including those aged under 25 who we see as an important demographic in our district.

"Now that students are back at our schools, college and university, clubs and societies, we would really like to hear from this age group, especially their views on what is stopping them from visiting the city centre and what they would like to see in their city.

"I urge all our young residents to complete the survey and help shape what happens in the city in the future. I would also encourage any parents and teachers in the district to encourage their children and students to take part in this five-minute survey."

The survey will be open until October 18.