Campaigners against plans for a controversial bypass will meet next week to plan protests.

The public meeting has been called by the Hastings Alliance which is campaigning to stop the proposed bypass being built near the town.

Members of the alliance, made up of more than 20 local and national community and transport groups, say the public has not been told the truth about the plans.

Gillian Bargery, joint co-ordinator of the Hastings Alliance, said: "If more people knew the facts about these highly-damaging bypasses, far fewer would be supporting their construction.

"Quite simply, the bypasses are more likely to undermine the regeneration of Hastings, leading to a loss of 300 jobs in the town centre. They would cause major damage to our important wildlife sites and countryside while increasing traffic levels and undermining public transport."

Transport Secretary John Prescott has to make the final decision on whether the road should go ahead after the South-East Regional Assembly voted to back the proposals.

The assembly wants linked east and west bypasses, forming a single 13-mile road running near Hastings and Bexhill.

It would run through the High Weald area of outstanding natural beauty and three sites of special scientific interest.

The meeting in the Phoenix Hall at William Parker School, Hastings, on Tuesday is being chaired by local magistrate Andy Burrage.

Speakers include Ros Coward, a Guardian journalist and Derrick Coffee, spokesman for East Sussex Transport 2000.