Concerned headteachers have called for a meeting with education bosses over the proposed merger of two East Sussex colleges.

They plan to meet the executive director of the Learning Skills Council for the South-East, Henry Ball, and the principals of Park and Sussex Downs Colleges to voice their fears over the plan.

Mark Dawkins, headteacher at Cavendish Senior School, Eldon Road, Eastbourne, said: "Our view remains as it was, that we are hugely disappointed at the suggestion. Both colleges have immense value as they stand."

The meeting will take place at Cavendish School on February 3.

The Learning Skills Council is a Government body responsible for the funding and planning of education and training for the post-16 age group.

Sussex Downs was created in 2001 after Eastbourne College of Arts and Technology (Ecat) and Lewes Tertiary College merged.

It is the biggest education centre in Sussex and has campuses in Eastbourne, Lewes and Newhaven.

Park College in Kings Drive, Eastbourne, is a sixth form centre. It claims students benefit from a smaller community.

If the college merger goes ahead Park students will join the 4,500 full-time and 22,000 part-time students who form Sussex Downs College.