Latest news with #Littlehampton
BBC News
4 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Littlehampton Body Shop HQ site plans submitted to council
A proposal for the site of the former Body Shop headquarters in Littlehampton has been submitted for plans involve the site at Watersmead Business Park, off Norway Road, which was also home to two former Amazon would see the three-storey former Body Shop building demolished and warehouses redeveloped into nine separate retail units, according to the Local Democracy Reporting plans are set to be decided by Arun District Council on 28 August. The complete removal of the headquarters will reduce the "apparent bulk" of the site from Norway Lane and the A259, according to the also suggest changes to pedestrian route and road layouts, planting areas including a pond, a bug hotel for increasing biodiversity, more parking spaces including electric vehicle bays and "sustainable" drainage objections have yet been registered by nearby residents or official for the demolition of the HQ were given the greenlight by the council in March this year, with the demolition beginning in Body Shop announced it was moving out of its Littlehampton site in October 2024 to relocate to Brighton, shortly after being pulled out of administration by the Aurea Group earlier that year.
BBC News
03-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Teenagers charged over death of Littlehampton man in 2024
A 17-year-old from Bognor has been charged with manslaughter over the death of man in January Lawrence, a 51-year-old father-of-three and grandfather, was found dead in Gladonian Road, Littlehampton, in the early hours of 28 January, prompting a police 17-year-old boy, from Littlehampton, has been charged sending a message that was grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character, and possession of teenagers, both of whom cannot be named for legal reasons, have been released on conditional bail.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
'These little ships are our last link to the Dunkirk evacuation'
On 14 May 1940, the BBC made the following announcement:"The Admiralty have made an order requesting all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between 30' and 100' in length to send all particulars to the Admiralty within 14 days from today if they have not already been offered or requisitioned."It set into motion Operation Dynamo, which saw hundreds of thousands of Allied troops evacuated from northern France during World War Two. Hundreds of small boats flocked to the south-east coast, where they were used mostly by the Royal Navy to help bring soldiers back to Kent. 'Incredibly scary time' Jason Carley owns the Naiad Errant, which he told the BBC rescued the crew of a French destroyer that had been sunk by the Germans on its way to Dunkirk. His boat, built in Littlehampton in 1939, also shuttled troops back and forth from the French shore to larger navy ships out at sea, and had eight soldiers onboard when it later docked in Ramsgate. "Could you imagine how difficult it would have been doing that trip at night while being at times under fire from the Luftwaffe," he said. "The soldiers were wet. They were cold. They had been under attack for days and they did not know whether they were going to be rescued." "It must have been quite a relief, but also an incredibly scary time," Mr Carley told the BBC. He said one "very exuberant soldier" took the boat's bell as a memento after landing in Kent, though it was later returned by his family decades later. "There are only a handful of Dunkirk veterans still alive," Mr Carley said. "The little ships are going to be our last link with what is a critical part of British history." 'Community pull together' The RNLI was also involved in the Dunkirk evacuation, sending 19 boats to northern France. Ramsgate Lifeboat Station sent the Prudential boat, while Margate's station dispatched the Lord Southborough, which together saved 3,400 people over the course of the evacuation, according to the Edward Drake Parker, who commanded The Lord Southborough, previously told the BBC the crew were at the pub playing darts when the call to go to Dunkirk came in. "I asked them if they would take the boat to go rescue our boys," he said. "That was a shock to them, but they all volunteered." Aside from the "great pressure" of having to rescue the men, often from the water, the former coxswain, who died in 1964, told the BBC there were lighter moments during the evacuation. He said he once heard a squeaking and thought it was a problem with the boat's engine, but the sound turned out to be coming from a guinea pig a French soldier had under his tunic. 'Ships appeared out of the mist' Penny Webb, the owner of another boat that participated in the Dunkirk evacuation, said her vessel has a "very special" story behind it. She told the BBC a previous owner took her 102-year-old boat, the Firefly, to a Dunkirk commemoration in the 1990s when a group of veterans came onboard. At first, Ms Webb described that one of the men became "very quiet" and she said they thought he had had "too many French beers". But he later wrote to the then owner, apologising that he had been overwhelmed with emotion as it was the very ship he had been rescued on in 1940. "He had been on the beaches for two days and two nights without food and water," she said. He woke up very early on the morning of 30 May and described a beautiful English summer's day, albeit with a sea mist, Ms Webb continued. "Suddenly hundreds and hundreds of little ships appeared out of the mist and he said for the first time he felt he had a chance of survival," she added.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- BBC News
Littlehampton seafront cordoned off over suspected explosives
A seafront in West Sussex was cordoned off after two suspected explosives were Coastguard Rescue Team set up a safety cordon at the western end of The Promenade after a report of the items, near the coastguard tower, was made shortly before 13:00 items were removed "for safe disposal", according to the Maritime & Coastguard District Council said the beach and promenade had reopened, and thanked the bomb squad for the removal of the "unidentified devices". "We appreciate your patience and ask that if you see anything suspicious on our seafronts or beaches, you report to the foreshores office straight away," a council spokesperson added. Sussex Police, which also attended the incident, has been contacted for beach was also closed in similar circumstances on 1 May, according to council.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Lyminster Bypass finally opened by council after weather delays
A new £50m bypass designed to divert traffic away from a number of villages in West Sussex will open on can begin using the A284 Lyminster Bypass (North) from 14:00 was initially set to open in autumn last year but West Sussex County Councillor Joy Dennis said building work was delayed due to "the worst rainfall in 200 years".Ms Dennis, councillor for highways and transport, said: "We're anticipating far less congestion and a much easier flow of traffic for residents and businesses to move from the A27 down to Littlehampton while avoiding the villages of Lyminster and Wick." Ms Dennis also said the bypass would help to reduce waiting times caused by a level crossing in the on a flood plain, the new road has a 225m (738ft) viaduct spanning Black Ditch, an ancient waterway, to allow for potential changes to water levels due to future climate change, the council Horton, regional director of Jackson Civil Engineering, said: "One of the issues we've had to overcome with this job is the existing ground conditions, because we're working on very soft, deep soil which are former river beds."There is also a "very unique" Pegasus crossing on the bypass, allowing pedestrians, cyclists, horses and farm vehicles to cross the road."We're cutting through an existing bridleway, so we're accommodating the equestrian crossing and were aware it was also used by cyclists and pedestrians," said Mr opening of the road is the end of a ten year project, with initial planning beginning in 2015.
