Friends of the Earth has warmly welcomed today's decision by Transport Secretary Stephen Byers to reject the proposed Hastings bypasses.

Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth's Transport Campaigner, said:

"This is a very welcome and sensible decision. Building the Hastings bypasses would have caused enormous environmental damage and would have done little to regenerate the town. The Government must now look to sustainable alternatives to Hastings problems based on tackling local transport problems and creating jobs for local people"

"We hope that Mr Byers' decision is an indication of a renewed Government commitment to the environment”.

Earlier this month Friends of the Earth published a report "New jobs without new roads" showing that over 2,500 new jobs could be created in Hastings without building the proposed bypasses