Business leaders in West Sussex are lending support to a major campaign to reinstate the county's coastal strip as a priority area for Government investment.

Directors of some of the area's most successful businesses are calling on Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to reverse a proposal to downgrade the coastal strip's status.

The area was originally earmarked to receive special economic support in the South East Regional Planning Guidance but this commitment has been removed.

The companies fear firms will move away if the infrastructure investment which flows from priority status towns such as Chichester, Worthing and Shoreham, which are already recognised as having poor road links, inadequate business sites and skills shortages, is removed.

David Sheard, managing director of Shoreham-based Hydro-Dynamic Products and chairman of the West Sussex Coastal Business Group, said: "It is vital that those of us with an interest in seeing this area thrive make clear our views to Government and our MPs.

"The coastal strip between Shoreham and Selsey contains pockets of significant deprivation whch are masked by an impression of affluence. The need for greater investment in infrastructure can be seen in the experiences of our own business.

Hydro-Dynamic Products is a technological-based manufacturer exporting to 60 dealers worldwide yet at present, it is easier to ship from the UK to Tokyo than it is to move our products from Shoreham to Felixstowe."

The decision to downgrade the coastal strip has caused great concert to the business community, said Jim Christy, the Sussex Enterprise area manager based at Worthing.

He said: "We are already worried about a lack of investment in essential infrastructure and should this proposal not be reversed then the consequences could be very serious."

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