After 15 years selling rods, hooks and maggots, Bob and Joan Briggs are retiring to spend more time with ... rods, hooks and maggots.

Mr and Mrs Briggs have sold the Ken Dunman Fishing Tackle shop in Worthing so they can devote more of their energies to their favourite hobby - fishing.

The shop has been open for 45 years. When it closes on January 17, the Marine Place premises will be converted back into a cottage.

Mr Briggs, 70, says he was among the first sea anglers to take up fishing from Worthing beach after wartime mines had been cleared away in 1946.

He took over the shop to escape the rat race.

He said: "I used to commute and it was soul destroying. Owning this shop was a dream of mine. It's nice to work on your hobby. Not many people can do that."

Mr Briggs would often leave his wife in charge while he went on day-long fishing trips, taking a little boat out into the Channel.

He said: "One of the reasons we are retiring is to spend more time fishing together."