A MASSIVE clear up started today after violent storms brought chaos to West Sussex.

Police closed Bognor pier after a 60ft section of

the historic attraction was washed into the sea

yesterday.

And in nearby Selsey, 75 people were evacuated from West Sands Caravan Park when it was

submerged under 18in of water.

The Environment Agency issued an amber flood alert as roads along the coast became impassable until this morning.

The wrecked section of Bognor pier was part of an area which had fallen into disrepair and the

building's entire future has now been thrown into doubt.

Bognor Regis Heritage Trust Project chairman Paul Wells said: "We warned only a few weeks ago that this would happen unless something was done.

"The end was damaged in a storm in 1965 and that part has been derelict ever since.

"It's really sickening. All the wooden planks have been washed up for about half a mile on the east side of the pier.

"The pier is in a very unsafe condition at the moment."

The project recently applied to get the Grade II listed 130-year-old pier upgraded to Grade II* to improve its chances of receiving funding for repairs, but this was refused in favour of Brighton's West Pier.

Bognor pier's owner, John Ayres, said he cannot afford to pay the £2.5 million restoration costs.

Officers from Arun District Council were today inspecting the structure - famous for its annual Bognor Bird Man competition.

The storms and gales also affected the whole West Sussex coastline.

Parts of the A259 coast road were flooded and police closed some areas, including Sea Road, Rustington, until after last night's high tide at around 11pm.

Worthing promenade was buried under a mass of pebbles, shingle, wood, leaves and fishing nets.

People living between Heene Road and Ham Road had

sandbags issued as a precautionary measure.

Worthing Borough Council inspectors were today visiting

Worthing pier to assess the level of damage.

Bryan Curtis, the town's principal engineer, said: "We are expecting another five or six high tides so we are keeping an eye on the weather situation. There could be some damage to the pier.

"But we are just counting our blessings that the situation is nothing like as bad as in Bognor. The weather is alright now, but it could change again and if it does we are ready."

The road in front of the pier was submerged beneath a pool of water and Brooklands Park was closed for two hours when it became waterlogged.

Nowhere in Sussex was spared the abysmal weather.

Seafront traders in Brighton were left with a huge clean-up bill after premises became flooded in the morning.

Water spilled over the beach into an amusement arcade, two cafes and an ice cream kiosk.

One owner, Ray Walters, 72, was so overcome with shock he had to be taken to hospital.

Ian Wells, 31, who runs The Beach Cafe, said: "We shut the doors and as we were going out it hit the shutters and they totally caved in.

"We had to run out round the back and it's just lucky there were no customers.

"It will cost thousands of pounds to repair the damage and the insurance companies won't insure properties so close to the sea."

Six homes were evacuated and many more flooded at Normans Bay, near Eastbourne.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.