Visitors are queueing up to have their dinner in a railway carriage after two years of wrangles.

Adur District Council has given Fred Courcha permission to re-open the restaurant in a converted railway carriage in the grounds of his pub, the Gardener Arms, West Street, Sompting.

Mr Courcha installed the 1962 British Rail carriage at the pub two years ago, but council chiefs said he had to cut the wheels off because it was too high.

Two sets of ten-tonne wheels and bogeys were cut off and the dining car was winched into position by crane.

Despite the hard work and the expensive alterations, believed to have cost £18,000, Mr Courcha, 59, is pleased his dream has finally become reality.

He said: "It's worth all the money and all the aggravation in the end.

"I've spent nearly £90,000 on the whole thing so I had to carry on and wait for the council's decision. Obviously I'm pleased they decided to let me use it, but I preferred it with the wheels on.

"Although now it's lower to the ground it has the advantage of being wheelchair-friendly.

"It was my idea to have the carriage in the pub grounds. I hate trains but I just wanted to do something a bit different."

The pub was shut for eight weeks while the work was carried out but customers have been flocking back for a dining experience with a difference.

Mr Courcha said: "It's getting really popular now. We serve whatever people want, from fish to steak. There's no British Rail buffet food in here.

"The interior is done out in a style like that of the Orient Express."

Mr Courcha still has to paint one side of the dining car cream and maroon and install fencing to meet all the council's requirements.