Savage cutbacks are being introduced at one of Britain's oldest castles because of a drop in visitor numbers.

Pevensey Castle will only open at weekends, instead of seven days a week, from October 1.

The decision was taken by English Heritage, which runs the 1,700-year-old castle, to cut the opening hours following a review.

It showed out of the more than 3,500 people who visited last winter, 70 per cent came on a Saturday or a Sunday.

At present, the castle opens from 10am to 6pm every day of the week but that will change to 10am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday only.

However, the planned cutbacks have sparked concerns among businesses in the area that their trade will suffer as fewer people visit the village.

There are also fears English Heritage may eventually pension off the attraction altogether if numbers decline further.

John Vincent, president of the Pevensey and Westham Historical Society, said: "Closing it at weekdays must have an effect on the local economy but to what extent we don't know yet.

"However, it is not a move that should be welcomed, quite the opposite in fact.

"I would like English Heritage to keep it open because to my knowledge it has never been closed for a significant length of time since the Second World War. Now this decision has been taken the question is would they consider closing it altogether?

"Would English Heritage close Stonehenge or the Tower of London? The answer is of course not because they are money-spinners.

"What English Heritage should do is use some of the money generated by these places to offset the cost of the castle. After all, it is our money."

The castle, which has views across Pevensey Marshes and the Downs, was built by the Romans in about 300AD to defend the coast against the Franks and Alemanni who were attacking the Roman empire.

Castle spokeswoman Allison Muir said: "We haven't had a great number of visitors during winter time so English Heritage took these decisions.

"We have an income to generate and it was simply the case that not enough was coming in during the winter months.

"But Pevensey Castle is one of those anomalies which seems to do well when other local businesses are doing badly and vice versa."

English Heritage said the Sars outbreak and the September 11 terrorist attacks had dented public confidence in overseas travel, leading to fewer visitors from abroad.

A spokeswoman said: "Like any other commercial operator, we regularly review our visitor operations to ensure we are giving customers what they want.

"This review was completed earlier this year and showed a need to make some changes to our opening times to reflect differences in contemporary living and the ways we spend our leisure time."

She promised English Heritage would review the changes and regular surveys would be carried out to test visitor reactions.

She insisted the new opening hours would not interfere with the castle's free schools programmes, which run throughout the year.