Workmen are waiting for better weather to demolish a condemned seafront hotel.

Owners of the three-star Sackville Hotel, in Hove, have confirmed as soon as the high winds drop, the two distinctive towers which support the front and side of the building will be knocked down.

High winds battered the seafront last week and substantially weakened the structures. The Kingsway had to be closed on May 19, for a second time in a month, after fears the towers were about to collapse, sending tons of rubble on to the road.

The towers were due to be demolished that day but continuing high winds and rain meant the work could not go ahead.

On April 28 the roof of the hotel collapsed, showering debris on to the road but not injuring anyone. That collapse destroyed a large part of the middle of the building.

The dangerous state of the towers means that part of the Kingsway outside the hotel remains coned off to protect motorists and pedestrians from any falling debris.

A spokesman for the owner, Sackville Hotel Ltd, which had planned a £5 million refurbishment, said: "It is now just a case of waiting for a window in the weather before they go ahead with the demolition."

The company has indicated it will go ahead with the refurbishment although the job will now be more like a complete rebuild. It wants to restore the hotel, built in 1904, to the condition it was during its Fifties heyday and make it a major tourist draw.

It had been due to reopen in 2007 but that timetable is likely to be delayed.