Hundreds of homes could be at risk from flooding after plans to improve sea defences were blocked by a conservation group.

Natural England has opposed Arun District Council’s move to transport 30,000 square metres of shingle to Pagham, near Chichester, from the nearby Church Norton spit.

It decided the work would have a detrimental effect on the environment and wildlife of the area.

The £450,000 scheme would have helped bolster the beach near Pagham Yacht Club to reduce the risk of flooding.

But now the council faces an even larger bill and potential delays as it is forced to try to import the shingle from out at sea.

The delay means that the work, which was due to be carried out in September, may not start until next year, leaving hundreds of homes open to the elements.

Ray Radmall, the chairman of Pagham Parish Council, said: “We urgently need a sustainable long term solution to Pagham’s recent erosion problem.

“The Arun District Council scheme would have bought crucial time for essential studies to be carried out in the quest for such a solution.

“Just when we thought that a first step in that process was being put in place the rug has been pulled from under us. We must all re-double our efforts to overcome this setback.”

If the north of the Pagham harbour entrance is allowed to erode, 160 homes built on the shingle bank would be at risk.

It would expose the harbour defences to waves and threaten a further 350 properties as well as flooding more than 300 hectares of land.

The district council said it was working to try to get defences in place by the winter.

Roger Elkins, Arun’s deputy leader, said: “We had been working with a range of partners and were aware of the importance of the environmental designations which relate to the protected species of birds in this area and the formation of the spit itself.

“We had ensured that these issues were taken account of in our study of the area.

“It is very frustrating to find ourselves in a situation where we need shingle to protect the residents of Pagham but we are having to get it from offshore, at much greater cost, when there is a huge quantity of shingle sitting just a few hundred metres away.”

Story by Samuel Underwood in The Argus