Economic development experts say the rail line between Lewes and Uckfield needs to be reopened or the two towns' economies could be stunted.

A report by the South-East England Development Agency (Seeda) has made a string of recommendations it said must be followed to secure the region's economic survival.

East Sussex needed to maintain efficient gateways to Europe and other international markets via Newhaven and to improve its road and rail access to Gatwick.

Improvements to the A21, A259 and A27 were also critical, said the report.

Basic skills, literacy and numeracy levels were low in the county, which inhibited many excluded groups, especially in coastal areas.

The report called for local centres of excellence to address these issues as well as an internationally-acknowledged centre of excellence for advanced professional training and research.

The planners said East Sussex was characterised by pockets of deprivation. They highlighted the county as being one of the poorest sub-regions in the South-East and suffering some of the worst deprivation in the UK.

One of the highest priorities was to reinstate the rail line between Lewes and Uckfield, a move that would improve access to Hastings and Bexhill from London and enable their economies to grow.

Rail links should also be improved along the coast from Brighton to Hastings.

Seeda's regional economic strategy set the vision priorities for the next ten years and has been backed by the South-East England Regional Assembly and the Government.

The report examined the economy and development across the South Coast. It said if Brighton and Hove was to flourish during the ten-year projection, the Brighton Centre should be bulldozed, a city-wide tramway network should be set up and more cheap homes built.

Other plans for Brighton and Hove included better training in creative industries, tourism, healthcare and education and "unlocking" Shoreham airport and harbour for industry; setting up dedicated business zones within the city; investing in private-rented accommodation and giving people a louder voice in decisions which affected their community.

The key aim was the demolition of the ageing Brighton Centre, a recommendation which won plaudits from city leaders.

The team wanted to see the seafront venue replaced with world-class conference facilities to make it a focal point for the cultural and leisure regeneration of the city.

Affordable housing was increasingly being seen as the only way many parts of Sussex, particularly Brighton and Hove, could solve the problem of accommodating its workers, many of whom had been priced out of the market.

In West Sussex, the regional economic strategy focused on an "urgent need" to revive the coastal towns of Shoreham, Littlehampton and Bognor.

It also highlighted the need to dovetail the boom in industry in Crawley and Horsham with better homes for workers, as well as remove bottlenecks on the A23 and A24 at Arundel, Worthing and Chichester.

One of the most controversial issues brought up was the proposed second runway at Gatwick.

The reports said the decision to rule out further development at Gatwick until 2009 meant the airport was not fulfilling its potential and the economic impact of both having and not having a second runway needed to be assessed.

The Government has been forced to introduce further airport consultation options after losing a court battle last summer to miss Gatwick off the list of airports earmarked for expansion.

Seeda said the airport's prosperity was a major influence on the economies of towns within a 30-minute drive and was critical to economic growth across the South-East.

Valuable international business would slowly leak away if the airport was not allowed to develop.