Jobs could be created without a multi-million pound bypass cutting through the countryside, conservationists claim.

Friends of the Earth says a sustainable regeneration strategy could create up to 2,570 jobs in Hastings for significantly less than the £130 million cost of the bypass.

The group says the strategy should include investment in training for the unemployed, developing community firms, promoting Hastings's tourism credentials, refurbishing empty homes, improving support for firms, providing locally produced food and increasing recycling.

Brenda Pollack, Friends of the Earth's regional campaigns co-ordinator, said: "This report shows a positive way forward for Hastings, making the best of its many assets and giving the town a green future.

"That has to be better than wasting tens of millions of pounds on a destructive bypass that won't solve traffic problems."

The final decision on the bypasses rests with transport secretary Stephen Byers who is expected to decide before the start of the Parliamentary recess in late July.

If Mr Byers decides to approve the scheme, he faces the prospect of a legal challenge.

Friends of the Earth and Transport 2000 wrote to then environment secretary John Prescott in April warning that a decision to approve would conflict with the Government's policy on building on environmentally sensitive sites.

Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner, said: "The last prop supporting the case for the Hastings bypasses has been kicked away.

"We knew they wouldn't solve the town's traffic problems.

"We knew they would be environmentally destructive.

"And now we know they aren't needed to bring new jobs. Stephen Byers should decide now to reject the bypasses so that the sustainable regeneration of Hastings can begin as soon as possible".

Backers of the scheme, which has won 80 per cent support in independent surveys, say Friends of the Earth's argument is flawed.

Mark Froud, director of policy at Sussex Enterprise, said: "At the moment there are businesses in Hastings that cannot move. They want to expand but they simply cannot.

"The Government has been pouring vast sums of money into Hastings through the single regeneration budget but although there are people there trained to work there are not the jobs available."