Councillors have signalled their determination to close a network of alleyways on two council estates which are seen as a magnet for hooligans and vandals.

Although residents in the Mash Barn Estate in Lancing and the Hamble Road area of Sompting have backed the plans to block the alleys, seen as trouble spots, the plans are mired in red tape.

Adur District Council cannot take any action until it gets consent from the highways authority, West Sussex County Council, which in turn needs permission from the Government.

Members of the district council's community services committee met last week to discuss a consultion with residents over the plans.

Community services vice-chairman Betty Hayward said: "The action is still ongoing. We have gone through two stages of trying to close the alleys.

"Some of the alleys are owned by the county council and the job isn't finished."

The requests to close the alleys have arisen as a result of the amount of anti-social behaviour said to take place there.

Residents have reported groups of youngsters regularly congregate and throw objects into gardens, damage fences and generally cause a disturbance.

The council frequently has to clear garden refuse and other rubbish that is dumped along the paths. Police have also said the alleys provide a useful escape route for burglars.

Some 62 per cent of residents in Hamble Road and 73 per cent in Mash Barn supported the closures in the consultation, the results of which were made public on Monday.

If the county council agrees to seek permission from the Government to close the alleys, residents would then be consulted again to find out which method of closure they preferred.

The project is likely to cost £6,500.