A beautiful part of Sussex tarnished by the Sarah Payne tragedy has now had a national police paedophile sweep named after it.

The high-profile investigation that trapped music mogul Jonathan King, and last week led to the arrest of TV presenter Matthew Kelly, is codenamed Operation Arundel.

Tourism chiefs in the historic town, famed for its stunning castle, are upset its name has been dragged down once again.

MP Howard Flight said the choice of codename was "a slur".

Civic leaders spent tens of thousands of pounds cleaning up the district's image following the kidnap and murder of Sarah, snatched from a cornfield near Littlehampton and found dead 20 miles away, off the A24.

In the ensuing national Press coverage, the Arun coast was part of a stretch dubbed the "paedophiles' riviera" because of its prevalence of seafront bedsits overlooking play parks and beaches.

More than £50,000 has been spent tempting visitors back during the past three years.

Council leader Norman Dingemans said: "It is unfortunate they should have used a specific place name where normally they would use something with no association to anywhere or anyone."

Operation Arundel is a nationwide investigation by Surrey Police and the National Criminal Intelligence Service into allegations of sexual abuse against boys.

The inquiry led to the arrest and imprisonment of pop producer King, jailed for seven years in 2001 after being found guilty of six sex offences against boys.

Two weeks ago the swoop again hit the headlines with the arrest of television presenter Matthew Kelly, who is on bail and has denied the allegations.

Other high-profile arrests, each of which has led to the name Arundel appearing on national radio, TV and in newspaper headlines, include former Bay City Rollers manager Tam Paton and record producer Steven Jolley, who wrote and produced Eighties chart hits for Spandau Ballet, Bananarama and Kim Wilde.

When The Argus approached Surrey Police and the National Criminal Intelligence Service, both said there was confusion about who had come up with the name first.

A spokesman for the service said codenames for inquiries were chosen randomly from a list so they had no association with an inquiry.

He said: "I can understand the concerns of the Arun councillors but I don't think it is as grave as they make out.

"The public should be given some credit for being able to differentiate between a codename for an inquiry and a place name and realise one has nothing to do with the other."

Surrey Police said they believed the operation name was originally chosen by the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

The force said it normally chose codenames randomly and was careful it had no association with the inquiry.