"SAVE OUR BATH TUB RACE" - reader poll

For more than three decades, Upper Beeding's bridge had hosted the start of the event, which raised more than 250,000 over the years.

Scenes like the one below '“ at the 2006 race '“ look set to become a thing of the past, after the Shoreham and Southwick Round Table, which organises the six-mile race, last week announced the event had been scuttled.

Money raised by the race had previously been used to help fund trips for war widows and family members to visit their loved ones' final resting places.

Former Upper Beeding parish council stalwart Keith Nethercote-Bryant is president of the Gatwick branch of the Submariners Association.

He said: "They have helped us to the tune of several hundred pounds a year. Some of these people are impoverished."

Mr Nethercote-Bryant thanked organisers for their efforts over the years, but said he hoped something could still be done to save the race, which was cancelled in 2001 due to the foot and mouth crisis.

He added: "It is a huge shame. It did a lot of good. If there is enough outcry then maybe they might think again."

Shoreham and Southwick Round Table said excessive drinking and injuries caused by onlookers throwing stones and eggs from the river banks had contributed to the decision to scrap the race.

For further reaction from a local tourism organiser and county councillor Derek Deedman, see the Steyning Herald, on sale now.