A seafront train service used by thousands has ended because of rising costs and global warming.

Actor Hugh Lloyd is among the many residents in Worthing mourning the demise of the promenade land train which managers have announced will not run this summer.

Mr Lloyd, famous for his appearances in Hancock's Half Hour and numerous other TV programmes, used the line with his wife Shan to get to the local shops.

The actor, who lives in Grand Avenue, only yards from where the train used to stop and turn around, said: "It was so convenient living where we do, at the end of the line."

Mr Lloyd wrote affectionately about the land train in his autobiography, Thank God For A Funny Face.

He said: "In the summer, we have the ideal form of transport to the shops - a little Thomas the Tank engine-style train runs right from the bottom of our road, along the seafront to the town centre.

"Sometimes there are more local adults using it for their shopping than there are holidaymakers and children."

Shan said: "I think it is a terrible loss for the seafront.

"It was absolutely ideal for me. It dropped me off right outside Marks & Spencer and took me back again. It was just as popular with town centre shoppers as it was with kids and holidaymakers."

Dave Hunt, who has been operating the train since 2000, blamed a series of problems.

To insure the train to run on the road from its storage depot in Heene Road to the seafront, a distance of 300 yards, was £737 a year for third party liability.

Mr Hunt said: "We really have given it our best shot. As much as it's been part of the seafront, it hasn't really been worth the hassle, which is why I decided to give it up, even at this time of year.

"With the way the weather is going, it's a job to make it pay.

"Climate change is one of the big problems. We're getting more strong winds blowing in off the sea, which keeps people off the promenade, and not too many nice days.

"And due to the increased number of events on the seafront, the council keeps closing us down on peak days. When I first took it on, we only lost the Saturday of the seafront fair.

"Last year, due to the Sunday charity market, we couldn't go out and this year there will be a market on the Saturday of the Rotary Carnival when again we can't operate.

"The council may readvertise the licence but the train itself has now been sold."

Councillor Paul High, executive member for leisure on Worthing Borough Council, said: "It's the first I have heard of it."

He said he had tried to help Mr Hunt and reduced his rent "almost to nothing".