Radical plans to transform Hastings into a bustling tourist magnet have won widespread praise from the community.

The £160 million plans signal yet another phase in the resort's ambitious £400 million regeneration.

Over the next ten years, thousands of jobs are expected to be created and many more visitors lured into this once struggling area beset by high violent crime and unemployment.

The latest £160 million plans by the Hastings and Bexhill Taskforce are in three parts, focusing on different areas of the town centre and seafront.

One, called Pelham Plaza, involves building a four-star hotel, shops, offices and leisure facilities on the seafront. The car park in Pelham Place, opposite arts venue St Mary-in-the-Castle, would be moved underground to make way for the 80-room hotel.

The second proposal, Station Plaza, would be beside Hastings railway station. Smart high-rise flats would be built, together with shops and leisure facilities.

The third, named Campus Core, is at the former British Telecom base in Havelock Road, which would be turned into one of the new university sites.

A conference to detail the projects was attended by 200 representatives from organisations, groups and businesses in Hastings and St Leonards.

Labour Hastings and Rye MP Michael Foster said: "This is the opportunity for a hand up, not a hand down.

"By 2020 we will no longer have a town that is looking for regeneration, but is regenerated."

Hastings Borough Council leader Jeremy Birch said the area was buzzing with excitement over the plans.

He said: "This is the most exciting time to be active in Hastings and St Leonards. There is no town of our size with as much going on or with the amount of national and regional attention we are getting."