The coastguard has been stood down in the search for a missing man who was believed to have gone into the sea.
A large-scale emergency operation was launched yesterday afternoon after a car was found on the beach in East Preston.
A Sussex Police spokeswoman confirmed the operation was in relation to their search for missing man Alexander, whose surname the force did not provide.
The 50-year-old from Sheffield was last seen near East Preston beach on December 22.
Police said they were concerned for his welfare.
A spokesman said this morning that the search is "ongoing".
A coastguard spokeswoman confirmed their teams were stood down just before 6.30 last night.
RNLI Shoreham's lifeboat was also launched on Sunday afternoon to aid the search for the missing man, who was believed to have gone into the water off East Preston beach.
"Our all weather lifeboat was launched on Sunday afternoon to a missing person believed to have gone into the water off East Preston beach," a spokesman said.
"We carried out a search in force six winds, assisted by the coastguard rescue 175 helicopter, Littlehampton coastguard, Shoreham coastguard and Sussex Police.
"After three hours, we were stood down after it was established the person was not in the water and we returned to station."
Several police cars also attended with dozens of officers, including police dog handlers seemingly scouring the beach.
A coastguard spokeswoman said yesterday: "HM Coastguard received a request for assistance from Sussex Police with an incident at East Preston beach just after 14:10 on Monday, December 22.
"A coastguard helicopter, Littlehampton Coastguard Rescue Team and Shoreham RNLI lifeboat were sent."