Hundreds of residents packed a public meeting to have their say on the proposed "Poohaven" sewage scheme and another housing development plan.

More than 300 people gathered at the Meridian Leisure Centre, Peacehaven, last night eager to comment on the controversial £200 million sewage scheme.

The residents have all been encouraged to write letters lodging their appeals against the Southern Water proposal.

The company wants to build a pumping station, storm water overflow pipe and a seven mile (11km) underground tunnel, which would transport sewage from Black Rock in Brighton to the treatment centre in Peacehaven.

The plans were approved by Brighton and Hove City Council in December.

But East Sussex County Council also needs to approve plans for the treatment centre at Lower Hoddern Farm, Peacehaven, before work on the scheme can begin.

Both sets of proposals, the second of which will be debated by the county council on March 22, are duplicates of earlier planning applications. Southern Water lodged appeals for the Government to intervene when the councils were unable to make decisions last year and a public inquiry will be held if the county council turns down the duplicate planning application.

The meeting was chaired by John Hodgson, spokesperson for the campaign group PROUD - Peacehaven Residents Opposed to Urban Development.

He said: "We want a decision made, we don't want to hang on any longer. We are keen for a public inquiry because we have nothing to hide.

"We know that our case is right."

A separate battle is ongoing for Peacehaven residents who are appealing against a planning application for 185 homes in the area. A second phase of a further 111 homes has also been put forward.

Residents at the meeting said they did not want further development in Peacehaven.

Mary Saunders, 50, a secretary, of Glynn Road West, said: "We simply don't have anything in Peacehaven.

"We don't have a swimming pool for the children or a decent shopping centre.

"They should focus on that, not on more housing."

Her husband Gary Saunders, 51, who works for East Sussex County Council, added: "I have lived in Peacehaven since 1966 and I've seen how it has changed.

"We simply don't have the infrastructure that we need. These meetings keep people informed."

A further meeting of PROUD will take place on March 15 at the Meridian Centre, at 7.30pm.