Almost 3,300 cyclists have been cautioned for riding illegally on a seafront promenade over the past eight months - and not one has been prosecuted.

In fact, nobody has been taken to court for flouting Worthing Borough Council's cycling bylaws for at least three years, councillors were told.

The statistics were revealed as Liberal Democrats accused Conservatives of delaying plans for a cycle route on the promenade between Splash Point and George V Avenue.

Councillor Jack Saheid said: "For the past three years we as a council have been condoning unlawful behaviour. The figures have been extremely high.

"Nothing has been done to prevent these people from doing it. Why not?"

John Thorpe, assistant director of leisure and cultural services, said: "The council has in the past taken people to court for breaking the bylaws.

"Because of the difficulties involved in the process that tends to have been persistent offenders, the last person taken to court was three or so years ago."

He said magistrates did not take a particularly vigorous approach to the prosecution of cyclists.

The cautioning of offenders also sapped the resources of beach office staff, who were at times subjected to both verbal and physical abuse.

Of the 3,282 cyclists cautioned between January and August, 85 per cent got off their bikes and walked, five per cent ignored the order and ten per cent became abusive.

The Lib Dems argued this was one of the reasons why a cycle route should be allowed, linking up with a path already running along East Worthing seafront.

West Sussex County Council warned Worthing may lose funding for phase two of the scheme if it didn't approve the path soon.

But Tory councillors believed the town should wait for a masterplan outlining the future development of the seafront before spending money on a new cycle route.

This, they said, was six months away but West Sussex councillor Tex Pemberton said it would be years before the masterplan was ready and in that time the cash earmarked for Worthing might be reallocated to rival schemes.

Coun Pemberton, the county's cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "There are an awful lot of people in Worthing who cycle.

"I would suggest there are more cyclists in Worthing than in any town in West Sussex."

He said most people wanted an off-road route rather than one in the road along Marine Parade, which would result in the loss of car parking spaces.

It was quite probable that Worthing would lose funding as there was a whole list of cycle routes in the county awaiting grants.

Coun James Doyle said Worthing was lagging behind in providing cycling routes, with 83 per cent of Chichester's network complete, 74 per cent of Crawley's and 29 per cent of Littlehampton's.

In Worthing, just 15 per cent of the work was done.

But Coun Paul High denied Worthing was the "missing link" in the South Coast cycle network, saying it was impossible to put in cycle paths on Shoreham and Portslade seafronts.