Scores of fruit flingers tossed oranges and lemons along Worthing beach to commemorate a famous shipwreck.

Persistent drizzle threatened to put a dampener on the second annual charity "fruit and nutcase" extravaganza but about 200 people braved the elements to take part or watch.

Ironically, it was similar dank conditions which led to the maritime accident which the event commemorates.

The SS Indiana was sailing off Worthing in March 1901 when she ran aground, spewing her cargo - tens of thousands of oranges and lemons - along the Sussex coast between Goring and Brighton.

Thousands of people rushed down to the shingle to reap the unexpected harvest.

There were reports of fights breaking out as people scrambled for the fruit and policemen chasing looters off the beach.

In Brighton, one man died of a heart attack said to have been brought on by the cold as he waded into the surf to claim the unexpected bounty from the sea.

It is said that Worthing residents gorged on marmalade for months afterwards until they were heartily sick of the stuff.

Yesterday, more than 100 competitors of all ages, from toddlers to pensioners, chanced their arm, throwing oranges and lemons across the sands opposite Heene Terrace.

Despite the rain, spectators cheered as some of the fruit splattered on impact.

Mayor-elect Major Tom Wye judged proceedings, with the £25 prizes going to those who flung their piece of fruit the furthest.

They were Ryan Bathard, 34, of New Parade (oranges) and Howard Ballamy, 44, of Alfred Place, Worthing (lemons). Mr Ballamy's son James, 13, picked up the children's award.

The oranges and lemons had earlier been delivered by Parvin Ahmed, Louise Ellis and Kim Pack, who work for Waitrose in High Street, Worthing, which donated the fruit for the second year running.

The event, organised by The Worthing Sentinel, a sister paper of The Argus, raised £140 for Gifford House, the Queen Alexandra Hospital-Home for Disabled Ex-servicemen in Boundary Road, Worthing.

One of the residents, Brian Crankshaw, also had a throw, propelling a lemon from his wheelchair.

The wreck of the Indiana remained a navigational hazard until the Sixties, when divers exploring the vessel reported that it was the domain of giant conger eels.