It's a shame that residents of the city can't look back to the times when Brighton had one of the most famous ice rinks in the country.

The Sports Stadium in West Street was home to the world-famous "Brighton Tigers" ice hockey team and produced many a homegrown Olympic champion.

The city has been deprived of a major sporting/entertainment venue for more than 38 years and has lost valuable revenue through its lack of vision.

Any Brightonian who watched three thousand people cheering the Tigers on a Sunday evening would agree the SS Brighton, as it was known locally, was a hugely successful venue.

The late Benny Lee, who was managing director of the Sports Stadium, said: "The day they knocked down the rink, they tore the sporting heart out of Brighton."

This is a sad epitaph to a city as progressive as Brighton and Hove.

-Trevor Chepstow, Sports Stadium Archive, Kings Road, Brighton