Hundreds of civil servants in Hastings face a nervous wait to find out if they will keep their jobs.

The Government has said it will be several weeks before it will announce further details about its plans to streamline the Child Support Agency (CSA) including whether job cuts will be required.

Under proposals, unveiled this week by the Department for Work and Pensions, the CSA will be replaced by a tougher, more streamlined organisation.

The new body would deal only with parents who were unable to resolve child support payments by themselves.

Under the current system everyone in receipt of benefits must go through the CSA.

News of the slim-down has fuelled fears that jobs will go. The CSA is one of the largest employers in Hastings and St Leonards, employing hundreds of people at Ashdown House.

Matthew Lock, lead member for regeneration on Hastings Borough Council, described the plans as "potentially devastating" for the local economy.

The Government, to the dismay of trade unions, said it was unable to confirm whether any jobs would be cut.

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton told MPs: "I hope and intend to set out details in the White Paper in the autumn.

"I do not want to add to the difficulties the agency is experiencing but we need to spend the next few weeks getting it clear with staff, management and others how the new arrangements will work.

"That will be time well spent but there will be full and proper consultation with all the relevant trade unions."

The minister said the Hastings workers were doing "a very good job in difficult circumstances".

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokeswoman added that any changes would take years rather than months to put in place.

A spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union, which will be arguing for the CSAs successor to retain a centre in Hastings, said workers had "every right to be fearful about job losses".

He said: "Staff should be given the chance to work with the new agency. The expertise and knowledge is already there.

"People are going off on their holidays without knowing what will happen to their jobs.

Morale is already low within the organisation. What staff want is stability."

Michael Foster, MP for Hastings and Rye, said in the past few months he had been given assurances by ministers that civil servants in Hastings would not suffer from "net job losses".

The Labour MP has written to the Government for confirmation that this guarantee still holds.

Mr Foster said rather than being a "catastrophe" for the town, the reforms could lead to the creation of additional jobs.