Regional planners have called for an urgent meeting with Transport Secretary Alistair Darling after a series of Sussex road schemes were scrapped.

The South East England Regional Assembly (Seera) voted to condemn Mr Darling's decision to turn down the new roads on environmental grounds.

Bypasses at Arundel and Worthing were rejected and the Secretary of State ruled-out dualling the A27 between Southerham and Beddingham, near Lewes.

Assembly members said they were appalled by the "perverse" decision, which risked turning coastal Sussex into a "social and economic backwater".

Seera said a Mori poll commissioned to help draw up its transport strategy showed congestion was on a par with crime as the key issue for residents.

Brenda Pollack, of Friends of the Earth, said assembly members should "stop blustering" and get on with sorting out congestion.