Tourism chiefs have warned that uncertainty over the future of one of the largest conference

centres in Sussex is becoming a threat to the holiday trade.

They say planners are taking too long to announce a decision on what will replace the dated Brighton Centre after announcing two years ago it would be bulldozed to make way for a world-class conference centre.

Hotels are already losing customers - costing money and jobs - according to hoteliers and other members of the tourism industry.

Bob Cotton OBE, of Peacehaven, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, has complained to Brighton and Hove City Council on behalf of hoteliers in Brighton about the delay in deciding the future of the venue.

He has demanded to know what the council's plans are.

Hoteliers fear event organisers are booking alternative venues as a safeguard because they do not know when the Brighton Centre is expected to undergo redevelopment and when it would be completed.

Many events are booked years in advance and the Brighton Centre is a favourite venue for international organisations, businesses and politicians.

Business leaders say the venue is the engine that drives the city's tourism and have warned the tourist industry could collapse if a firm plan for the centre is not announced soon.

Brighton and Hove City Council insists the Brighton Centre project is live and under way but is a massively complex and expensive task.

The council hopes to announce its choice of options for the centre by next spring.

The Argus reported in July last year that the council had agreeing to seek commercial partners for redeveloping the venue which was opened in 1977.

Councillors had also approved planning guidelines for the project.

They want to see a landmark building which would keep the city in the top flight for conferences.

A multi-million-pound convention centre would form the centrepiece of a 12.6 hectare area earmarked for redevelopment which extends to Churchill Square. It includes the Kingswest, The Grand hotel and the Hilton Brighton Metropole.

A report to the council last year said a new convention centre could be partly funded by allowing new hotel buildings, leisure facilities, shops and homes in the area.

In March 2003, Brighton and Hove City Council announced plans to knock down the centre, saying the venue would close at the end of 2005. The plan was to knock the building down and rebuild it by 2008.

Mr Cotton said: "People book conferences up to seven or eight years ahead but they are not renewing and bookings are falling away. People are going elsewhere.

"The conference business is crucial to Brighton. We need speedy action because the delay is costing Brighton money and jobs."

Mark Froud, chief executive of Sussex Enterprise said: "Attracting visitors to Brighton, whether on business or for pleasure, is absolutely vital for the local economy.

"What we need now is a clear timetable of when the work will take place and the project completed."

A council spokesman said: "Redeveloping the Brighton Centre is probably going to be the single most complex project the city has ever seen.

"Building an international convention centre costs £120-150 million.

"The council has nothing like that amount of money. So we're in the middle of complex behind-the-scenes negotiations with potential backers."