A FERRY service being saved from closure has been hailed as the key to avoiding "disaster" and ensuring a "magnificent future" for a seaside town.

As reported in The Argus this week the future of the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry link was secured after the French authorities struck a deal to take over the running of the service.

And businesses and residents have all hailed the plan to secure the much-loved route.

Traders have said it will be crucial in Newhaven's redevelopment after facing years of decline.

With major investment already on the cards leading local figures have said securing the vital ferry means is the final piece of the puzzle which will allow the town to have a “magnificent future”.

The last bank shut last year with the rest of the town centre traders battling to survive as they remain choked inside the one-way system surrounding the shopping area.

But Annie Lorys, president of the Newhaven Chamber of Commerce, said: “We have always felt the ferry has been Newhaven’s signature.

“It is part of the town’s personality and everyone in Newhaven considers it to be very important – it would have been disaster if it had gone.

“The thing is Newhaven has been starting to turn around for many years. In the past 18 years we have seen small incremental changes and then in the last two years it is really on the up and up and the town is on the turn.

“Newhaven is one of the only places getting this kind of investment.”

Newhaven has been seen as in decline since the end of the Second World War as maritime and rail freight trade began to drop off – with the goods sidings at Newhaven Harbour station being closed in 1968 and the closure of the railway wharf in 1996.

Paul Boswell, secretary for the chamber of commerce, said: “The route is vital to Newhaven. There would have been jobs lost, less people coming to Newhaven and a loss of trade to the area.”

He added the expansion and future success of the port was dependent on the ferry’s survival.

Investment projects set for the town include the multimillion pound Universal Technical College due to open this September with investment in the road network and job opportunities as a result of the Rampion Wind Farm.

Councillor Rupert Simmons, East Sussex County Council lead member for economy, said the ferry was a “vital component part to the town”.

He said Newhaven has “wonderful prospects which have not been realised for so long” and as more investment comes in the town has a “magnificent future”.