A rare seabird has become the latest victim of severe weather conditions which have battered the coast of Sussex.

Rescue volunteers tried all night to revive the great skua - a species which has not landed in Sussex for 25 years - but they could not save it.

The weary creature was found by a walker on the Downs and handed over to Roger's Wildlife Rescue centre in Woodingdean.

Experts said the young skua, normally only found in Britain off the Orkney Islands, was probably forced to land by stormy weather and was then unable to fly again.

Roger Musselle, who runs the rescue centre, said: "The bird was unwell and exhausted and unable to fly. Despite warmth and care, it died during the night."

Jeremy Adams of the Booth Natural History Museum, in Brighton, said it was 25 years since a great skua had landed in the county.

He said: "They are quite unusual. They are sometimes spotted flying quite happily and healthily over the county but not coming to ground as this one has.

"It probably didn't have the necessary reserves to survive that period of harsh weather."

Residents feared a chemical spill when hundreds of dead fish were washed up on Shoreham Beach.

The fish are believed to be garfish and the cause of their deaths is still being investigated.

But one local expert said: "Shoals of garfish chase fry into shallow water to feed. Sometimes they can beach themselves in a feeding frenzy and it is possible that this is what happened."