An initiative to help businesses on an industrial estate in Sussex has achieved great success in just six months.

Business support organisation Sussex Enterprise has been instrumental in helping firms on the Bognor estate combat vandalism and crime.

More than 95 per cent of the companies based on the Durban Road Industrial Estate have taken part in the scheme.

Improvements to the working environment are already obvious after just six months of its operation.

Alan Thackray, commercial manager of electronic components manufacturers Schurter Ltd, has worked on the estate for 30 years.

Mr Thackray said: "The estate used to be a very pleasant place but has not been taken care of for more than 20 years.

"Schurter has wanted to remain in Bognor but we also wanted to have a nice environment to work in and for visitors to come to."

Mr Thackray was keen to help return the area to its former glory and took on the role of chairman of the estate's steering group.

He said: "Since we have been holding the meetings, things seem to have been getting better.

"Buildings which have been empty for some time are being renovated and ugly problems like dumped cars are removed almost at once.

"There are still issues to be tackled and we shall see what else we can do to tidy up our estate."

Gail Grant, Sussex Enterprise business park co-ordinator for the area, has also played an active role in the renovation scheme.

She said: "The action taken over the last few months has made a big difference to everyone.

"The sense of community that has developed has been really impressive and can only be good for business."

Regular meetings have been held to discuss and implement solutions to the problems plaguing the area.

Gail said: "Enthusiasm has been so great that meetings have been called much more frequently than we planned so we can speed up projects, such as installation of CCTV, which we aim to have in place by the autumn."

The estate has already benefited from several improvement strategies.

Bognor police have helped to update the factory watch system to prevent crime.

A specialist graffiti removal squad has also been enlisted.

Businesses can report graffiti vandalism to a clean-up team who ensure it is removed within seven days or just 24 hours if the content is offensive.