A BOOKS wholesaler has announced a 400-job boost for Sussex by spring this year.

Gardner Books is to recruit hundreds of extra employees after it completes the expansion of its Hampden Park Industrial Estate headquarters in Eastbourne.

The new jobs, mainly warehouse and office workers, will bring the total of people employed at the site to 1,100.

The firm, which has contracts across the world, is building a larger warehouse and extra offices to cope with increased demand.

Chairman Alan Little said: "Gardner's relocation to Eastbourne six years ago has been an enormous success and I am anticipating significant and continuous growth in the future."

Eastbourne has come under fire in recent years, with companies leaving

the town after citing poor road and rail links for loss of business.

Last year, South East Water moved its headquarters and 90 staff from Eastbourne to Haywards Heath, blaming the town's transport network.

The Government has since given the green light to a major road scheme, the A22 extension to join the proposed Polegate bypass, which could bring businesses back to the area.

Norman Kinnish, Eastbourne Borough Council's director of planning, said the future looked bright for the town.

The council's economic development department received more than 200 inquiries from businesses interested in moving to Eastbourne last year.

Mr Kinnish said: "Gardner books is a living testament to the success story of Eastbourne.

"There is nowhere finer in the South of England to live or work."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.