Improvements to the run-down area around Worthing railway station have been delayed until the start of summer.

The work, which includes steps to reduce congestion in Railway Approach, was due to start in February but will not now start until May or June.

Design consultants at West Sussex County Council, who are responsible for the improvements, first had to complete work on Crawley's Fastway bus scheme.

People travelling between Worthing and Brighton after 7pm have to use the train since the council withdrew funding from the Stagecoach bus service last September.

Improvements to the station area could cost between £220,000 and £250,000 and Worthing Borough Council has contributed about £6,000 for tree planting around the station.

Worthing Chamber of Commerce president Barry Emms said: "I am a disappointed at the delay to the improvements when bus services have been slashed.

"The area around the station, particularly Teville Gate, is the main gateway to the town. But it looks like a ghetto.

"I know of two large companies in Worthing who refuse to allow visitors, especially foreign ones, to arrive by train into such a run-down area.

"Instead they send chauffeurs to pick them up from London at great expense.

"I don't blame them. Even I wouldn't want to be around the station area at night."

A West Sussex County Council spokeswoman said: "We shall be going ahead as soon as possible with the scheme which has been delayed because of pressures elsewhere in the county."

Meanwhile, Worthing Borough Council is sitting on £6,866 left over from a fund set up in 1987 after the Great Storm to plant new trees and shrubs around the station.

The planting cannot go ahead because of the delay to the improvements.