Not another Home Zone delay

West Sussex County Council maintains it is ready to begin the work next month.

Two councillors said they feared the promised date of spring for the work to be carried out around Gravits Lane and Ivydale Road could be put off for another three months.

They believed the latest setback could have been caused by the installation of two large containers by Arun District Council on the Gravits Lane car park until July 2.

But a county council spokesman said only bad weather would delay matters.

He said: 'It has always been and still is our intention to resurface the Home Zone in April.

'It has not been delayed until July. A meeting is taking place this week to fix the start date with our main service providers May Gurney which will carry out the work.

'The only possible delay to the April start date when it is finalised will be bad weather conditions.

'We are in discussions about the use of the car park as a compound for Arun District Council's refurbishment of housing in the area, but that will still not delay the surfacing work within the Home Zone.'

Cllr Michelle White, one of the area's councillors on Bognor Regis Town Council, said any more delays to the repairs would have been unacceptable to residents.

They had already accepted last autumn that the work needed to take place in the dry weather.

The repairs will cover drainage and removing the patchwork quilt effect after previous work on the distinctive surfacing which is a feature of the Home Zone to reinforce its status as a pedestrian friendly area.

The 1m scheme was unveiled as the first in West Sussex in December 2004 but it has been dogged with complaints about poor quality materials and workmanship.