I would like to say the government balanced the view but they haven't. They have got it wrong

Michael Foster MP for Hastings and Rye

The government has pledged itself to improve public transport and to limit the use of private cars.

It was feared construction could lead to the type of protests which marked the building of the Newbury bypass in Berkshire and the Twyford Down motorway outside Winchester.

John Page, executive director of 1066 Enterprise, which tries to bring jobs to the area, said the refusal was a "missed opportunity" which would have a serious impact on Hastings.

He told the BBC: "We are very sorry about the delay this will cause in bringing jobs into the town.

John Page: Decision a 'missed opportunity'

"We have got 2,500 people without jobs at the moment and in 10 days' time we will have another five hundred or so school leavers.

"There is just nowhere for them to find jobs at the moment and nowhere for our companies to expand into.

"The bypass was our one chance to do that because it opened up industrial land."

Gillian Bargery, who runs an alliance set up to fight the bypass, told the BBC that she was "very relieved" by the decision.

'Fundamentalists' view'

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "Not a single employer has guaranteed they will come to the green field site development the bypasses would supposedly open up."

Michael Foster, Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, said he was "desperately disappointed" with the decision, which he called a victory for the "fundamentalists' view".

Local opponents of the scheme are 'very relieved'

"Ten thousand homes will be affected by this decision, they will continue to have to put up with high levels of traffic," he told the BBC.

"There is no way round it, I would like to put some spin on it, I would like to say the government balanced the view but they haven't. They have got it wrong."

He called for ministers to come forward with fresh ideas for Hastings, and to explain how the �120m he said had been earmarked for the bypass would now be spent to regenerate the town in other ways.

'Sustainable alternatives'

Tony Bosworth, transport campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said the decision was "welcome and sensible".

"Building the bypasses would have caused enormous environmental damage and done little to regenerate the town," he said.

"The government must now look to sustainable alternatives to Hastings' problems, based on tackling local transport issues and creating jobs for local people.

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