Opponents are making a last-ditch effort to persuade ministers to reject a controversial road plan in East Sussex.

The Government is due to say this week if it is to grant East Sussex County Council £47 million to fund the Hastings to Bexhill link road.

Backers, including many businesses and politicians, say the 5.6km road would bring housing, investment, jobs and economic activity to an area ranked the 28th poorest in Britain.

But environmentalists are piling pressure on ministers to reject the bid, claiming it would damage some of Britain's most precious wildlife sites.

The Hastings Alliance, an umbrella group of national and local lobby groups against the plan, say Combe Haven, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, would be hit and many of the road's aims would not be met.

The group has written to Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, urging him not to approve the scheme.

Plans for a link road were put forward after the Government rejected plans for a highly-controversial multi-million pound bypass scheme in Hastings and Bexhill three years ago.

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

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

But the green lobby claim this new plan is a bypass under a different name.

Tony Bosworth, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The link road would devastate one of the finest valleys in East Sussex for highly-questionable transport and regeneration benefits."

Stephen Joseph, of Transport 2000, said: "It would be a shot in the foot rather than a shot in the arm."

Council chiefs say action must be taken now to provoke an economic upsurge in Hastings and Bexhill.

They said 86 per cent of the public had voted in favour of a link road after widespread consultation.

They believe it is vital to cut congestion along the A259 Bexhill Road, St Leonards, where carbon monoxide emissions are high - posing a threat to homeowners living there.