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On this day in 2010: Snowfall covers Worthing in January big freeze

This time ten years ago Worthing was covered in a blanket of snow that led to school closures across the area and chaos on the roads.

Chatsmore Catholic High School,Downsbrook Middle School, Oak Grove College and Vale First and Middle School were closed completely, while Durrington High School and Davison High School opened mid-morning .

While the majority of schools in Worthing and the surrounding area closed their doors during the big freeze during the past week, there were a small number of schools that bucked the trend. Chesswood Middle School was up and running on Thursday and Friday despite the heavy layer of hard snow around the town.

Shops in Worthing saw the number of customers drop dramatically as bad weather hit the town. Footfall in the town centre fell by two-thirds, with just 5,000 people visiting the shops last Wednesday and leaving some stores without a single customer all day.

However, town centre manager Sharon Clarke said the situation could have been a lot worse. “It has obviously been difficult,” said Sharon.

“Last week, footfall was down 15 per cent which is not as bad as it could have been.

“But Wednesday, 5,000 people came through the town the whole day. Normally, it is 15,000 to 16,000.”

Many shops shut their doors early to make sure staff could get home in the light and before more bad weather hit the town.