British beachgoers fight French after foreign-firm welds gate to Sussex sand shut

1 sources1 storiesFirst seen 7/6/2026Score26Mixed Progress

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British beachgoers have fought back after a French-owned firm welded the gates of a Sussex beach shut for 18 years.

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West Beach in Newhaven has been cut off from the public with metal barriers since 2008 by its French owners.A group of 14-year-old boys scaled the security fencing and sprinted across the sand before plunging into the sea as temperatures reached 33C.Days earlier, more than 100 beachgoers had descended on the site in Sussex after padlocks were cut off using angle grinders.

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Children were seen constructing sandcastles on what is the only sandy beach of its type in the local area.However, the enjoyment of the beach was short-lived, as the firm, owned by the French department of Seine-Maritime, shut the beach again, implementing tougher security measures to keep the British public out.

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The dispute has now reached Westminster, where...

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