Hospital campaigners have been invited to meet with a senior health boss to discuss their proposals for the future of maternity services in their area.

East Sussex Downs and Weald Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Hastings and Rother PCT are meting tomorrow to discuss plans for facilities at Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards.

PCTs chief executive Nick Yeo is hoping to arrange a meeting with campaigners in Eastbourne and Hastings to discuss their ideas for future specialist maternity and baby care.

The invitation follows the publication the PCT's four planned options for public consultation which include having a consultant-led maternity unit at either Eastbourne or St Leonards with no maternity unit at the other site or a consultant-led maternity unit at one or the other hospital with a midwife-led unit at the other.

A special care baby unit will be based at whatever hospital has the full maternity service.

Campaigners are calling for a fifth option, which they call Option 5 Saves Lives, to be included in the consultation document.

It stipulates that full consultant-led services should be based at both hospitals.

Mr Yeo said: "I look forward to meeting the campaigners as soon as possible to discuss their ideas and how these could be taken forward for assessment against the criteria we have used to develop our options - quality, clinical safety, access, value for money and sustaining two viable hospitals in East Sussex.

"The outcomes of these discussions will be fed into the consultation."

Campaigners are holding a Mother's Day march and demonstration in Eastbourne on Sunday and hope to formally hand over their proposal to health bosses then.

If the PCTs give the go-ahead today, the consultation is expected to be launched on or around March 26 and run for 15 weeks.