The father of a boxer assassinated in a drive-by shooting wept today as he called his son's killers "complete cowards".

Fred Millen, 49, sobbed during a Press conference to seek clues on who killed his son, Jimmy Millen, 27, on a Hastings council estate.

Married father of three Mr Millen was gunned down on Wednesday afternoon by a motorcycle passenger as he worked on his red Ford Fiesta XR2 car in Tile Barn Road, Hastings.

The black bike approached Mr Millen slowly before four shots hit him in the back, leaving him to stagger around the corner into Carpenter Drive, where he slumped in a pool of blood.

Paramedics tried to stop the bleeding but Mr Millen, of nearby Taylor Close, died a short time later at the Conquest Hospital, Hastings.

Mr Millen told reporters at Hastings police station this morning that his son was a doting father to his two sons and one daughter, aged between eight and 11, who came to Hastings from his home town of Liverpool when he was 16.

He said: "He was a good kid who lived by his pride. He was a real man who fronted everything, not like those cowards.

"Anyone can shoot someone in the back four times, they are pure cowards and I hope they are put where they should be."

He said Mr Millen's three children, Chelsea, eight, James, nine, and Daniel, 11, were distraught.

Fighting back tears, he said: "The oldest kid, who is 11, knows what went on but the other two haven't yet taken it in.

"The little girl came in the other day and said: 'Mummy, daddy's car is round the corner and it is being fixed by the police'. She hasn't got a clue.

"He doted on his kids like any proud man."

Murder squad detectives working on Operation Darnel revealed they were following up a number of calls regarding the motorcycle used by two people who were clad in black leathers, with tinted visors.

But police were nowhere nearer to finding a motive for the planned killing, which happened in broad daylight.

Detective Chief Inspector John Levett said: "We are looking at a number of inquiries but it would be wrong at this stage to focus on suggestions that this was a gangland killing.

"All the indications are that this was an isolated incident."

The killing has raised tensions among some quarters of the Hollington community, with some fearing revenge attacks.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "Jimmy was a nice bloke to the people who knew him properly but he had trodden on a few people's toes in his time.

"Nevertheless everyone is in a state of shock that something like this could happen on our own doorstep.

"Many of us are worried about what's going to happen next."

Flowers and letters of condolence were still being left at the murder scene this morning.