Tory leadership hopeful Michael Portillo criticised the time wasted pursuing the ill-fated Hastings bypass during a whistlestop tour of Sussex yesterday.

Mr Portillo spent the day meeting Conservative Party members in St Leonards, Hove and Balcombe near Haywards Heath.

While many questions to the former Shadow Chancellor revolved around the current contest to be party leader, Mr Portillo also fielded queries about more local issues.

He said he had been "well briefed" on the Hastings bypass plans and said finding a new solution would be a priority.

Mr Portillo said: "I have an awful feeling of wasted time. Hastings does need a solution but this particular route obviously wasn't going to pass the tests environmentally.

"A lot of time has been wasted on something that was not going to be successful."

He said it was now a matter for local MPs to work with the community to move forwards.

In a blow to Brighton's gay community, Mr Portillo denied he was committed to repealing Section 28 which bans the promotion of homosexuality in schools.

Mr Portillo said he would be willing to review the Conservative Party's stance on the matter if he was made leader. However he denied newspaper suggestions that he was in favour of gay marriages and said he had never commented on the matter.

He also deflected questions on his views about the legalisation of cannabis, which fellow party member Peter Lilley this week called for after a tour of Amsterdam.

Mr Portillo said: "I have never raised the subject of cannabis. My campaign has been about public education, public health, the national issues. It has been about transport and crime."

He said these were the issues people in Sussex cared about and wanted to see politicians working on.