A treasured railway line could be revived as part of a new housing project.

Trains have not run on the Uckfield to Lewes railway line for almost 40 years but, as part of a new scheme, developers could pay for tracks in return for planning permission to build 4,000 new homes.

Campaigners have spent years lobbying for the line, which closed in 1969, to be reopened.

Developers Kilmartin and Bride Parks commissioned a feasibility study which showed that reinstating the eight-mile track would attract 3,000 passengers a day.

But to fund the £50 million project they said they would need permission to build 4,000 homes along the route, plus some shops around the stations.

Uckfield has been earmarked for 500 new homes during the next five years, with 4,000 more planned for the outlying Wealden area.

Duncan Bennett, Uckfield's deputy mayor, said: "Anything that assists the train's passage is a good thing to me. We're in the throes of development anyway.

"Nobody really wants these homes but if they're coming here anyway we might as well get something back for a change.

"The idea is that private investment would be needed to jump-start the railway line.

"This is a large corridor and I know we're looking for 500 homes in the immediate vicinity of Uckfield. Looking at the line is a feasible way of doing it."

The developers said they were in the process of commissioning a further study into the feasibility of the project.

They are offering to cover the cost of the long-awaited reinstatement by paying a "roof tax" of more than £10,000 for each home they build close to the reopened line.

Peter Frost, the firm's director, said: "We've met a few MPs and taken them through our proposal, as well as Network Rail, and they seem to be reasonably in favour.

"We're very keen on seeing progress on the Lewes to Uckfield line and propose to tender the final study to establish concentration, costs and financial viability.

"We'd hope that by the new year we'd be able to make a decision to go forward.

"A year later, once agreements were in place, we could be ready to start building. But people won't immediately see houses springing up. It's a gradual process."

Wealden District Council said it had already given the green light to three separate developments which would lead to the building of 400 homes in the area.

Network Rail said the disused line was currently owned by the Department for Transport (DfT) but they were "keen to work with developers to restore the line".

A spokesman for the DfT said: "The department will consider individual proposals on their own merits and will work with any local authorities and other groups interested in promoting new lines.

"Proposals should address the needs and wider transport alternatives in a particular corridor.

Consideration would need to be given to other transport modes, and how new and existing housing could best be served."