Jesus's last journey draws Easter crowds

The re-enactment saw Jesus, played by Garry Roberts, arrested outside Boots, put on trial by the precinct clock tower and finally face crucifixion near the pier.

Its aim, said Roger Purdom, pastor of Parkside Evangelical Church, was to take the story of the crucifixion and the Christian message in general out of the church and into public.

Around 120 people from the five Littlehampton churches '“ Parkside, All Saints, Littlehampton Baptist Church, Littlehampton United Church and Arun Community Church '“ took part but were joined by other people along the way, building to a crowd of around 200.

Each stage of the story lasted for around 15 minutes and at the end the gathered crowd sang the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

Mr Purdom said: "It was a success beyond our expectations.

"We are really pleased we did it. We got a lot of interest, a lot of respect and it was a great opportunity for the churches to work together to take the celebration out into the community instead of waiting in our churches for people to come to us.

"We had absolutely no derogatory feedback whatsoever. There was a great deal of respect and warmth and a friendly attitude.

"I would like to thank everyone involved, the stewards from the churches for their help and the public for their support.

"It was a very positive experience and we are already looking at how to build on it for the future."