French politicians were today heading to Sussex for top-level discussions about the future of Newhaven port.

They were meeting counterparts in Lewes to answer questions about what direction the port will be going under French ownership.

On the agenda will be proposals by fast ferry company Hoverspeed to possibly pull out of Newhaven and sell its cross-Channel service to a French firm.

A decision is expected shortly on whether Hoverspeed will end its five-year involvement with the 67-mile route to Dieppe after it stepped in to run a summer service in 1999 when P&O Stena Line pulled out.

Hoverspeed is in discussions with Transmanche Ferries, which runs an all-year-round freight and passenger service between the two ports.

If a price is agreed for Hoverspeed's involvement in the route and it is sold to Transmanche, it will mean French companies own both ports of Newhaven and Dieppe as well as the ferry service.

Lewes Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, who has been involved in the discussions to save the route, will join district council members in meeting counterparts from France at the council's offices.

He said he wants to impress upon the French the importance of marketing the port. And he wants to know what direction they plan to take the port.

He said: "Firstly I want to know that now they own the port, what they intend to do with it.

"I want to know what level of investment we are going to see and to gain an update on plans by Hoverspeed."

The numbers using the Newhaven-Dieppe Hoverspeed fast-ferry service between March and September each year have remained at between 250,000 and 300,000 passengers and 75,000 vehicles.

This summer's figures were down on last year's because of poor weather.

A Spanish shipyard is building two 16,000 tonne ships for Transmanche at a cost of £55 million for use on the route. They will make the crossing in three hours and are scheduled to come into service in 2006.

They will eventually replace the older MV Dieppe and the Sardinia Vera, which currently sail between Newhaven and Dieppe, taking four hours.

The meeting follows an announcement by East Sussex County Council last week that £500,000 is to be used to regenerate Newhaven to make the town and port more vibrant.

It will look at ways of encouraging more restaurants, pubs, clubs and wine bars to give a more Continental feel to the town, so it will not be continually ignored by people arriving from France on the ferries.

The money will support a range of projects to deliver training to residents and support to businesses, as well as partly funding a building on Denton Island, providing a home to new and small businesses.

A large proportion of the funding will be used for a major plan to show how the town can be developed.

However, critics insist it must not be just a "paper-generating" exercise but should produce results.