Trawler Tragedy

Mr Mills' business survived in spite of losing his moorings and then suffering defeat in a series of high profile legal challenges over the redevelopment of the harbour area.

But now he says the sinking of Lady Lena, at his new moorings beside the former Osborne's boatyard, is the last straw.

He told the Littlehampton Gazette: "It's been the worst two-and-a-half years of my life. I had all that grief with the court cases and the worry of paying for that, then this happens.

"I just feel numb at the moment. I don't know what I'm going to do.

"It's the final nail in the coffin. It makes you feel like chucking it all in."

The first Mr Mills knew of the sinking was when his wife, Vanessa, called him on Tuesday morning to say a friend living opposite the moorings could just see the top of the trawler's mast sticking out of the water.