The chairman and vice-chairman of a regatta have quit, blaming political shenanigans.

Mike Northeast and Mark Butler, from the Littlehampton Regatta Group, left fellow organisers of the colourful annual event reeling.

The regatta, which takes place every August, draws crowds of up to 40,000 to the riverside.

Mr Butler, who is also a Littlehampton town councillor along with Mr Northeast, said: "We have quit because of political shenanigans.

"There was an awful lot of soul searching before we took this decision but you can only battle for so long to make people see sense.

"Last year's regatta was a great success and we wanted to build on that but other people thought the funding we asked for from the town council meant that other groups were missing out."

Their decision to quit was taken after a Littlehampton Town Council budget meeting where there was criticism that £30,000 of the council's tourism money was being spent underwriting speedboat racing as part of the regatta weekend celebrations.

Councillor Andy Hawkes, who spoke out about the money, said: "I'm not anti Mike Northeast or Mark Butler. I have a great deal of respect for everything they have done for the town but we are not going to be taken for ride as ratepayers.

"What about the the carnival and the bonfire night celebrations? They shouldn't miss out at the expense of the regatta."

This year's regatta is being billed as the best yet, with coverage of some of the speedboat racing to be filmed by Sky Sports and Channel Five.

An emergency meeting of the regatta group has been called for next Wednesday.