Hastings is to receive £22 million from the European Union to boost its economy.
The central area of town will have funding from Brussels for the first time and benefit from another £38 million of private and public investment.
The resort was one of many regions to benefit from a £2.5 billion financial package unveiled by the European Commission yesterday.
The spending programme will run until 2006. It targets areas qualifying for help in "economic and social reconversion".
It is hoped that the finance, swollen by more than twice as much again from the public and private sectors, will regenerate industry and small firms, and help create thousands of new jobs.
The aid, drawn from the EU's regional and social fund, will go towards substantial redevelopment schemes across the UK.
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