Campaigners say they have won the Battle of Hastings after the Government approved the most hotly contested road scheme in Sussex.

Ministers defied strong protests from environmentalists to give consent yesterday to the £47 million Hastings to Bexhill link road.

With the decision came promises of up to 4,000 jobs, a 50 per cent cut in unemployment and steep reductions in congestion and pollution.

Housing, improved public transport and a better quality of life for residents and users of the traffic-choked A259 Bexhill Road in St Leonards were also promised.

Community leaders, businesses and residents heralded the decision by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling as a vital part of the multi-million pound regeneration already under way.

The road will link the A259 in Bexhill to Queensway in St Leonards, passing closely to Combe Haven, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Council leaders say the link road is important to support the new university in Hastings, giving blue-chip companies an incentive to invest in the area.

Without the three-and-a-half mile road, supporters claim Hastings and Bexhill would remain high in the UK's deprivation index.

Approval means detailed work to take the scheme through to the planning and technical approval stage can get under way - with work possibly starting in two years.

Councillor Matthew Lock, the East Sussex lead member for transport, said: "We put together a very strong case for this road and are pleased that the minister has not been persuaded by the minority who objected to it.

"Giving this scheme the green light will set in motion a whole chain of events.

"Building this road will enable us to look at better public transport facilities, such as bus lanes, open up land in north Bexhill for housing and businesses and help support the massive regeneration in the area, which means more jobs and opportunities."

Hastings and Rye Labour MP Michael Foster said: "This is fantastic news. We must now press ahead to the planning stage and hopefully everything will be in place within two years so we get this road built."

However, the decision drew condemnation from environmentalists who say some of Britain's most important wildlife sites will be irreparably damaged.

Pressure group The Hastings Alliance - an umbrella group of local and national organisations - lobbied ministers to reject the plan.

They claimed the promised objectives, such as easing traffic-clogged roads, would not be achieved.

Opponents said traffic on the A259 would be reduced but some roads in north Hastings would see up to a 91 per cent rise.

Protests on a scale last seen at Newbury and Twyford Down may follow. Friends of the Earth (FoE) said every legal avenue would be explored to get the scheme kicked back.

The group said better and cheaper alternatives to solving traffic problems were ignored. They suggested a range of schemes including providing better conditions for walking and cycling.

Mike Turner, of Hastings FoE, said: "It is unbelievable that the Government has approved this road when it has a clear policy of only allowing road building as a last resort in sensitive areas like this.

"The Combe Haven Valley is a beautiful and tranquil landscape that could be lost forever. At £47 million this scheme is extremely costly both financially and environmentally."

Tony Bosworth, FoE's transport campaigner, said: "Alistair Darling's short-sighted decision will lead to one of the most beautiful valleys in Sussex being covered in concrete.

"This damaging road is completely unnecessary. It will create more problems than it will solve and condemn the area to even more congestion and pollution in the future."

East Sussex Transport 2000 accused ministers of ignoring Government policy on environment, planning and transport.

Spokesman Derrick Coffee said: "The minister apparently regards it as acceptable to shift a local traffic congestion problem to other communities, rather than encouraging the introduction of alternatives for the benefit of all communities.

"The decision also undermines the huge potential in Hastings and Bexhill to develop a high-quality transport system in line with Government policy.

"Instead, the link road will be a charter for a surge in car usage, including for commuting and school run trips.

"It will be a millstone round the neck of efforts to develop integrated pedestrian, cycle and public transport networks.

"Train and bus operators will suffer from a shrinking market. For those without a car, the future holds less choice."

Controversy over transport schemes in the area has gone on for decades. Most controversial was the Government's rejection in 2001 of the Hastings to Bexhill bypass.

The rejection triggered consternation among its supporters, including councils, MPs and businesses, who said it would haul the towns from deep-seated deprivation.

In a compromise, ministers asked councils to come up with an alternative scheme - a less environmentally damaging plan, which emerged as the link road.

Six possible routes were looked at, with construction costs ranging from £50 million to £145 million. More than 65,000 local people were asked for their views and 2,500 responded.

In total, 84 per cent who responded backed the link road, a figure which supporters claim shows the overwhelming level of feeling in East Sussex.

Coun Lock said: "Those living along the A259, who suffer more than 30,000 vehicles crawling past their homes daily, can at last look forward to a better and healthier quality of life."

Paul Evans, chairman of Hastings Chamber of Commerce and managing director of glazing firm Marshall Tufflex, said the road would allow expansion in Hastings and Bexhill.

He claimed the environmental impact predicted by the green lobby had been exaggerated to undermine efforts to revitalise the towns.

He said: "Many of the environmental lobby don't live in the area so don't have to put up with the effects of the problems day-to-day.

"It is not the big scheme environmentalists would have us believe, certainly not as damaging as the bypass scheme which was turned down by the Government in 2001.

"This link road is a crucial part of Hastings' regeneration.

"There will be many benefits as a result of this, including a reduction in congestion, which hopefully will create better bus services."

The decision cheered residents along Bexhill Road, St Leonards, where carbon monoxide emissions are high, posing a threat to 500 homeowners there.

Richard Carroll, 59, who has lived there for 15 years, said: "Thank God the Government listened this time round otherwise they would've had a war on their hands.

"Some days you can taste the pollution from cars. It is terrible."

The link road was part of a £1.6 billion package of funding the Government approved for transport in England in 2005-06.