Sandy beach in village green bid

The council hopes old pictures will prove historic use of the beach

A town council's plan to reclassify a beach as a village green has been given a boost by old photographs.

Newhaven Town Council came up with the plan after West Beach was closed by its owners, Newhaven Port and Properties, for safety reasons.

It plans to apply to East Sussex County Council to register the beach as a green and is raising a petition.

A web appeal for old photographs, to prove its public use over the years, is proving successful, the council says.

But it still wants more people to ransack their attics and drawers to find more.

The beach was closed this year because of an unsafe wall.

The council move would mean the owners would only be able to close the area in an emergency.

The authority needs to prove the beach has been used for sports and pastimes such as walking, kite flying, playing and picnicking for at least 20 years, and has asked people to supply the old photographs as evidence.

The petition form on the town council website says: "If the application is successful it would mean that the public use of the beach is confirmed and that the owners would not be allowed to close it except in an emergency."

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Newhaven Town Council encouraged people to send in the photos