Hotels in Bognor are losing business to Bournemouth and Brighton, according to a new report.

The report from the Bognor Regis Regeneration Group said too few Bognor hotels made the grade despite increased demand for accommodation.

It also claimed there were too few beds and that all seafront hotels urgently needed refurbishment.

This particularly applied to budget hotels which relied on roadside custom.

At the other end of the scale, visitors in search of four-star accommodation faced no problems.

The group believes the town needs to build more short-break hotels and is hopeful brewery giant Whitbread will go ahead with plans to build a Travel Inn.

Hoteliers are now calling on Arun Council to increase the town's tourism budget.

The report says: "It is clear that in order to capitalise on the short-break market, Bognor Regis needs to provide value-for-money accommodation.

"The lack of suitable and sufficient accommodation, and the maturity of competition from other seaside resorts such as Brighton and Bournemouth, make Bognor Regis an unacceptable choice for the corporate sector."

Ian Harding, former chairman of the Visitors to Arun Association, said: "The regeneration of Arun is urgently needed.

"At the moment, it would be money down the drain for hoteliers to do up their businesses.

"We need to see a boost in tourism in the area first and are looking to Arun District Council to increase the tourism budget for Bognor."