The Government's repeated failure to improve Sussex's transport links is causing firms to hit the buffers, according to a new business survey.

Mark Froud, chief executive of Sussex Enterprise, launched a stinging attack on Transport Secretary Alistair Darling in front of 800 business delegates at the organisation's annual conference at the Brighton Dome.

A Voices for Business survey showed 90 per cent of businesses believed the Government's transport strategy was a shambles and damaged their trading prospects.

More than 5,000 questionnaires were sent to businesses across Sussex to discover the key concerns and issues facing them.

Mr Froud said businesses in Sussex felt let down by the lack of suitable funding for transport infrastructure.

He was taking a swipe at the south coast multi-modal study steering committee which he claimed was a waste of time.

The idea of the committee was to bring various groups together to compile a package of transport proposals for the Secretary of State.

But all the proposals put forward, including plans to widen the A27, were rejected by Mr Darling.

Mr Froud described plans to build a bridge over the railway line at Beddingham as a small victory in the long struggle to sort out Sussex's transport problem.

The conference, the biggest in the Sussex business calendar, attracts delegates from all over the county.

They were given a broadly positive health report on the region's economy which has outgrown the rest of the country for the last ten years.

But, besides transport there were other major problems, such as red tape and housing costs, which threatened the rosy outlook.

Speaking ahead of today's conference, Mr Froud said almost nine out of ten small businesses felt red tape was affecting profitability.

He said: "Many local businesses feel strangled by the burden that endless red tape brings.

"Recent figures showing the regulatory burden on British business has risen to £30 billion won't fill the county's companies with hope.

"Sussex is a fantastic place to do business but the costs of locating here are still too high.

"More than half of businesses say the rent for their premises has increased far above the level of inflation in the last year."

Wednesday March 24, 2004