County councillors would lose their traditional HQ under plans to sell County Hall in an idea floated by a council member.

Liberal Democrat Nick Rodgers has called for an in-depth look at moving much of West Sussex County Council's administration away from its Chichester head offices as part of a move towards devolution.

Coun Rodgers says the sale would raise millions of pounds to boost front-line services.

The Lib-Dem group leader, from Worthing, said much of the work carried out at the giant County Hall campus could be switched to towns such as Bognor, East Grinstead and Littlehampton.

He said the success of the recently-opened Centenary House at Worthing, shared by the county council and police, had shown how well the idea could work.

Coun Rodgers said some sites at Chichester could be ideal for housing and give the council a financial bonanza because the city was one of the most expensive places to live with development land often fetching more than £1 million an acre.

He said: "If you were designing West Sussex today, you would not put County Hall in Chichester."

Tory Cabinet member David Dewdney dismissed the idea as a non-starter.

Labour leader Councillor George O'Neill said: "It is a bit of a radical suggestion."