Politicians and business leaders are pleading with the Government not to abandon vital road-building projects.

The Tory-Lib Dem coalition has postponed all major highway projects, including the Hastings to Bexhill link road which was due to start this summer, pending the Government's spending review in October.

Other projects on hold in Sussex include work on the A27 bypass at Arundel and an upgrade of the A23 at Handcross, near Haywards Heath.

While business leaders have stressed the need for all three projects, the link road is seen as vital for the region's economy.

Both Peter Jones, the leader of East Sussex County Council, and Mark Froud, the chief executive of Sussex Enterprise, have written to the Department for Transport highlighting the desperate need for the road to be built.

Transport minister and Lewes MP Norman Baker said he could not give his opinion on the link road as he may be called to make a decision on whether it gets the go-ahead.