Bognor still the place to come

A plea for people to continue supporting the popular resort was made following an arson which completely destroyed one hut along Marine Drive West and caused serious damage to its neighbour.

Firefighters were called to the area opposite the putting green about 3.10am on Monday to extinguish the fire. A policeman had spotted the fire as part of routine patrols.

Beach huts have been located at that area of the beach since Victorian times and there are currently 130 huts owned by people from the surrounding area and further afield.

In January there was a spate of eight fires which completely destroyed one hut and damaged four others.

Beach hut community representative Alison Priestley said the town did not want visitors to be put off and said it was doing all it could to fight the problem.

"Over the summer we thought it had stopped. It was a lovely summer here, people were using the huts and facilities and making the most of the beach. Then in August we had a fire and then we had yet another fire on Monday morning.

"It's very worrying, people thinking their huts are going to be set on fire. That part of the beach has a lovely family atmosphere '“ it's a friendly place.

"The huts are a nice little feature and it's lovely there, but it's being spoiled by whoever is setting off these fires. We want to reassure people we are doing all we can to find out who has done this."

Mrs Priestley said police had responded to concerns earlier in the year and had stepped up patrols in the area. A private security officer has also been hired.

Owner of the damaged beach huts, Christina Morton, from Bromley in Kent has been coming to Bognor Regis for 18 years with her family.

She said the fire would not be putting her off travelling to Bognor, but could not understand why anyone would want to do such a thing.

"I felt very sad when I came down here on Tuesday morning," she said. It's taken a lot of years to build up what we have there. We've always had very good memories of Bognor '“ when it's sunny it rivals Portugal.

"There are four families who use our huts, aged six to 70, and my son who is 21 has been coming here since he was a little boy.

"We've had people break in before '“ it's usually someone wanting somewhere to sleep '“ but we've never, ever been through this sort of thing before. This is just a step too far.

"We are asking people to be more aware and extra vigilant. Everybody needs to keep an eye out and report anything they think is suspicious."

Kiosk proprietor Simon Wickenden, who is based just a few metres from the huts, said: "The beach huts are very important to us as a local business '“ people think of us as their kiosk and everybody knows each other.

"The damage isn't anything that doesn't happen anywhere else. It's just mindless yobs, who don't appreciate the damage they have done. They think it's all a bit of fun but don't see the damage.

"To be fair, the police have been good and there are a lot more patrols and police community support officers come to see us fairly regularly."

To report anything suspicious call Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999.

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