New Year wash-out

Partygoers turned out in howling winds and rain on one of the soggiest New Year's Eves in memory.

Numbers were down at parties throughout the county as many people stayed indoors to avoid the wash-out.

People waded through more than an inch of rainwater to congregate in the Old Steine in Brighton for the stroke of midnight.

The party turned into a double celebration following Brighton and Hove's triumph in winning city status but only 2,000 people turned up because of the weather.

It was the third time the huge outdoor bash has been held at the site and it was the wettest one by far.

Organisers Zap Productions pulled out all the stops to provide a wide variety of music and entertainment but were powerless to prevent the bad weather.

The incessant rain meant many friends and relatives preferred to celebrate in the pubs and clubs rather than on the city streets.

Police said the event was almost trouble-free and there were only 20 arrests in Brighton and Hove.

Those who braved the elements ensured the seafront event was a night to remember.

As the New Year approached, clubbers dressed in wigs, kilts and fairy costumes mingled with families, couples and pensioners.

And when the chimes sounded, friends and strangers hugged and kissed each other.

The countdown to 2001 culminated in a firework display on a barge at sea.

Student Sonia Sewell, 18, from Burgess Hill, was one of dozens who caught the train into Brighton for the biggest party on the South Coast.

She said: "This is the first year I have spent New Year's Eve in Brighton and it has been brilliant, even though the weather was rubbish."

Scott Newton, 27, from Kemp Town, said: "I thought last year was an anti-climax as people felt under too much pressure to enjoy themselves. This year the atmosphere seems much more relaxed. People are partying because they want to."

The evening started with Same Sky's annual lantern parade, the Burning Of The Clocks, before the two main parties at the Old Steine and Victoria Gardens.

Here a mix of local and international music talent performed alongside guest DJs to make it a memorable night.

Performers included Health and Pleasure, in-house band at The Komedia, Celtic jazz funk five-piece All Jigged Out, Carnival Collective and 12-piece ska band The Brighton Agitators.

Mukka nodded to the city's cultural diversity with its blend of Eastern European and Arabic dance tunes.

A fireworks extravaganza turned into a damp squib for scores of New Year revellers in Worthing.

Despite atrocious conditions, more than 100 people, including young children, gathered on the rain-lashed seafront at 7.30pm for the lighting of the millennium beacon, followed by a 20-minute fireworks display.

But they left disappointed after organisers postponed the event because of the weather.

Earlier, more than 200 people of all ages gathered in St Andrew's Church, Tarring, Worthing, for a Carols by Candlelight concert.

Father Edward Jervis conducted the popular service, which was interspersed by songs from the 15-strong Excelsis choir, whose voices rose above the howling gale outside.

Many revellers, some in dinner jackets and ballgowns, were soaked as they braved the torrential downpour to attend parties in town centre pubs.

Worthing Lions Club staged a New Year ball at the Assembly Hall, where more than 270 people enjoyed the sounds of singer Shirley Western, with the Ronnie Smith Show Band.

Last year the Lions, who raise thousands of pounds for worthy causes, were unable to stage the annual event at the venue in Stoke Abbott Road because the borough council wanted to hold its own millennium celebrations.

Organisers feared people might not come back this year but they did and the evening was judged a resounding success, with hundreds of multi-coloured balloons falling on to the dancefloor at midnight from a net suspended from the ceiling.

Police had pledged to crack down on trouble in Worthing, Littlehampton, Arundel and Lancing as part of their Operation Marble campaign to reduce anti-social behaviour.

This year, Worthing Borough Council had not removed the clock tower outside the Guildbourne Centre shopping precinct, which in the past has been a target for rowdy youths who try to climb it.

Two van loads of police stood by as the rain relented at 11.50pm But instead of hundreds of people gathering to welcome in 2001, there was only one solitary drunk in the area.

Howling winds and driving rain put paid to scores of celebrations in the east of the county.

The normally bustling roads around Eastbourne town centre were deserted but for a few hardy revellers who were prepared to confront the freezing temperatures while swathed in scarfs and coats.

Even as the clocks chimed midnight, only a handful of people braved the stormy weather to blow whistles and pop champagne bottles as 2001 was heralded.

But club and pub owners said the weather had dealt them a huge favour by driving partygoers into their premises.

Among those to do well was Eastbourne's newest nightclub, La Sufera, at Sovereign Harbour, which celebrated its first New Year's Eve after opening in July.

More than 250 people paid £35 for tickets to be entertained by live band Harzardous Funk and DJs as well as enjoy a finger buffet.

Other nightspots in the town packed to capacity were Kings in Langney Road and Tuxedo Junction in Terminus Road.

The Atlantis Nightclub on Eastbourne Pier was perhaps the most windswept venue in the town but partygoers were able to groove until 4am.

As midnight struck, ticker tape rained on to the dance floor.

A club spokesman said: "It has been a great evening. There has been no trouble and everyone has just been enjoying themselves."

Twenty miles along the coast in Hastings, the revels were also hampered by the weather.

While pubs and clubs reported a booming trade, including The Crypt and The Street in Robertson Street, outside events were forced to succumb to the conditions.

Fireworks displays were scrapped while the town centre was again deserted.

However, the weather did have its advantages.

A Sussex Police spokesman said the evening in East Sussex had passed without serious incident.

He added: "The weather has played a huge part in helping us.

"Once everyone left the pubs and clubs they all went home. It has been a success as far as we are concerned as well as a relief.

"New Year's Eve can often be difficult to police but this year at least we have been fortunate that so little trouble has been reported."