Lined with chalky white cliffs and grassy banks, Newhaven West Beach in East Sussex was once a bustling seaside spot.

But the beach was closed to the public by its owners, Newhaven Port and Properties, in 2008 after being deemed unsafe for visitors.

Issues such as crumbling walls and high waves were said to make it ‘dangerous’ for the public.

But a Bill being introduced in Parliament may mean the beach could relive its old glory days soon.

Liberal Democrat MP James MacCleary is pushing the Newhaven West Beach Public Access Bill.

He aims to open the beach through right of access, which would enforce that safe routes to its sandy shores are secured too.

The politician insisted that the beach ‘is not just a strip of sand’ but a major part of the area’s history and community.

He added: ‘For 17 years, local families – including my own – have been denied access to a beach where generations once swam, played and made memories. That cannot be right.’

Newhaven West Beach in East Sussex has been closed to the public since 2008

Now Lib Dem MP James MacCleary is pushing the Newhaven West Beach Public Access Bill

He argued the current closure ‘cannot be right’.

The Daily Mail has contacted Newhaven Port and Properties for comment.

Since the beach was closed off in 2008, there have been numerous protests.

The Mail reported back in 2015 how townsfolk would scale fences to use the stretch of land and hold ‘protest picnics’.

At the time, the Supreme Court agreed that West Beach would not be able to become a village green and therefore enjoyed by locals.

They ruled the stretch of sand would remain fenced off under the instruction of its owners, a joint venture of French local authorities.

The ruling came after a campaign by people living in the nearby town to have the beach registered as a village green so they could have unrestricted access to it.

And in 2014, around 300 people stormed the fence surrounding the beach.

The group gathered as the low tide made way for the sand, before using ladders to climb over the barricade.

They then ran on to the beach to spread out Union Flags and write messages in the sand, including: ‘Give us our surf beach back.’