VIDEO: Lec's last moments in Bognor Regis

These are the last images of the last signs of Lec Refrigeration in Bognor Regis to be seen publicly.

The owner of the former factory site, Sime Darby London Ltd, arranged two farewell tours of the land before it is redeveloped.

The company this week issued a draft development brief of how it wants the future of the area, wedged between the A29 Shripney Road and the railway line, to look. This should be followed by more detailed plans during the summer.

But, for now, the site of ten acres is empty.

Just one building is still in use as Sime Darby's base in the town and for a small fridge-making firm.

The rest of the area resembles a concrete wasteland. The only noise is the passing traffic or trains. Occasional birdsong can be heard.

Walking around the site in the company of Lec former maintenance fitter Ian Holland was like stepping back into the manufacturing history of the town.

He was part of the large workforce in the factory when it was among the pride of British manufacturers. Joining in 1971, he stayed until being made redundant about two years ago as the company was being wound down.

His memories, though, are of a time when the buildings were bustling.

Click the green play button to watch a video showing a tour of the Lec site.

Men and machines worked together around the clock to create as many as 3,000 fridges a day.

The peak workforce at Lec was between 1,800 and 1,900 in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Within 30 years, the world of work has changed dramatically at the cost of such large-scale manufacturing enterprises.

Mr Holland provided the 15 individuals from a range of organisations who joined him for the first of the two tours last Wednesday with an insider's view of the complex.

Strolling around the deserted area, he brought to life the uses of the hotch-potch of buildings built and extended over the decades now standing silent and empty.

Over there was the former foundry, over there was the main production area, while another area contained the jig machine shop and the welding shop.

He recalled how the boiler house contained three large boilers which ran on gas but could be converted to oil in an hour in an emergency.

They operated round the clock throughout the year.

Another building was the site where a seven-ton hoist lifted the sheets of metal from lorries to begin their journey being shaped into fridges by generations and families of Bognor, to stand proudly in the kitchens of buyers up and down the country. Some were exported, with a sister company operating in Calais.

The tool room, the personnel department and the spray shop were other locations on the itinerary as well as the long assembly lines from where the finished products rolled off.

Particular mention was made of the three-storey building which lines the A29 opposite Tesco and forms an unwanted landmark at the entrance to the town centre.

Known as the technical building, it contained the injection moulding shop on the ground floor, with a drawing office on the first floor and a technical area for various products on top. A canteen was also included.

The extent of the dereliction meant none of the buildings was opened. There is the ever-present risk of part of a roof collapsing.

Even just walking around could have its hazards. Piles of rubble are littered around the ground and uneven surfaces abound. Underneath the ground is no safer.

Bore holes can be seen where tests have been carried out to discover the extent of the site's contamination from the former gas works and the use of chemicals in the fridges and freezers.

The sight is a long way from the one with which West Meads' resident Mr Holland (51) is most familiar.

He said: "It's sad to see the buildings like this when I remember how busy the place was. It was a good place to work.

"I just wish it was still all here. But British manufacturing is not like that any more."

One small area of the site still remains open to the public. By an historical curiosity, the factory has always been traversed by a public footpath which stretches all the way to Barnham.

This is used by more than 100 people a month under the watchful eye of a security officer and takes walkers over the Barnham-Bognor railway line, through the former Lec airfield on the other side, past Bognor Regis Golf Club and on to Barnham.

Nearby is a firmly-locked vehicle crossing. Mr Holland recalled two fatal crashes ten years apart when trains and vehicles collided.

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