Descendant of lifeboat crew members criticises pink house

Alexandra Capone, 40, painted the former RNLI lifeboat house in Marine Parade just days after being slapped with a two-year anti-social behaviour order for terrorising her neighbours and town centre businesses.

Capone has already been charged with breaching the ASBO, after police arrested her on Sunday for playing music so loud it could be heard outside her property. She has been bailed to appear before Worthing Magistrates’ Court on March 24.

Rob Blann, 64, of Rose Walk, Goring, is a descendant of men who worked out of the lifeboat house.

His great-grandfather Bill Blann was the last coxswain on the Worthing lifeboat and his great great great-grandfather died after attempting to rescue the troubled Lalla Rookh vessel in 1850.

Mr Blann said: “The colour of the paint is absolutely abysmal. It’s been done disastrously, it’s out of keeping with the conservation area and should never have been done.”

Lifeboat provision for the Worthing coastline moved to Shoreham in 1929. The Worthing lifeboat station closed in 1930.

In 1988, Mr Blann campaigned to turn the building into a museum dedicated to Worthing’s lifeboat history but was unsuccessful.

David Sumner, of the Worthing Society, has also been critical of the paint job.

He said: “This is an historic building that needed some love and care. This is just a nightmare.

“It would be a joke if it wasn’t such an important historic building. Undoing it is a major effort. I couldn’t believe it when I stood there in front of it. It’s just been splodged on by the lady who owns it.”

James Appleton, Worthing Borough Council’s head of planning and regeneration, said: “The council has received a complaint about the painting of a property on Worthing Seafront a bright pink colour and it is currently investigating whether the works constitute a breach of planning control.”