A RUSTED lamppost came crashing down on to the pavement - missing cars and pedestrians by inches.

The cast iron lantern, which was on the sea side of Marine Parade, Brighton, is thought to be more than 100 years old.

James Mitchell, 40, from Peacehaven, had just got off the bus when he saw it come down.

He said: said: “Nothing touched it except the wind. It’s just like the arches, the city is falling into disrepair and decay.”

“Thankfully there was no one under it and it luckily missed the car by a millimetres. I reported it to the council who sent City Clean to collect but one of their guys told me it's too corroded to fully fix.

“I was looking at them all today and they’re all pretty rusty. The council definitely needs to check them.

“They should have looked after them better, just like the arches."

Roger Amerena, the Brighton and Hove heritage commissioner, said: “I believe that the standards on the south side of Marine Parade are listed, and they were installed for the electric lighting in 1893 when Brighton seafront was first lit by the Mayoress Lady Ewert.

“These are quintessentially Brighton seafront, along with the balustrading and the wind shelters, and they must be protected.

“I actually think these are quite well maintained so perhaps this was one which escaped inspection."

A council spokeswoman said: “We’re now in the process of inspecting this column to find out what happened and we will also be inspecting the other heritage columns. This is in addition to our annual visual inspection of street lighting columns.

“It will be repaired, but too early to say how long that will take as this is a heritage lamp that will need to be recast.”

In April of last year the Argus launched the Seafront 2020 campaign calling for investment in and protection of our iconic seafront.

The arches are still closed for repair having been shut last winter.

Our campaign is calling for a five-year plan for investment and renovation of the seafront.