An eyesore landmark in the Sussex countryside should be turned into a downland valley, according to environmental groups.

They say the disused cement works at Upper Beeding should be landscaped at an estimated cost of £9 million.

A report published today comes out against large-scale industrial development or filling in the huge quarry at Upper Beeding. Instead it recommends shaving back most of the cliff walls to create a giant green coombe.

Some cliff sides would be retained as habitat for birds but most of the quarry and works would be landscaped and returned to grassland with some woodland.

Because the site lies inside the Sussex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty it should be returned to a form that could have existed naturally, the report says.

It adds: "The priority should be to treat it as countryside in need of restoration, not as an industrial site in need of development. It would therefore be wrong to approach it primarily as a developed site."

Restoration, coupled with small-scale industrial development in the secluded centre of the quarry, costing £8 million, is included in the report as a fallback option.

The report, drawn up by groups including the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), the Sussex Downs Conservation Board and the Sussex Wildlife Trust, has been delayed for nearly a year because councils wanted the costings examined.

Roy Coppard of the CPRE said: "The important thing is to get the buildings, stacks and as much of the eyesore removed as soon as possible. That has then got to be followed by the total restoration of the site."

Councils, who part-fund the conservation board, are keen to build on the 114-acre site.

West Sussex County Council has identified the old cement works as a possible site for a waste-burning incinerator, sparking protests from local people.

A recent report commissioned by the councils and business groups recommended minor restoration linked to commercial development.

Landowner Hargreaves, which bought the works from Blue Circle two years ago, is expected to apply for planning permission for a mixed commercial, leisure and possibly housing development soon.