A coalition of campaign groups have fought the plan

The Bexhill to Hastings road through Combe Haven Valley, in East Sussex, is part of �1.6bn of funding for local transport in England in 2005-6.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the funding package would "benefit all forms of local transport".

But Friends of the Earth said the road would increase congestion and pollution.

East Sussex County Council says the road is an essential part of regeneration plans, with the new route opening up the area for redevelopment and creating up to 4,000 jobs locally.

Mr Darling said: "The �1.6bn means that local authorities across the country can continue to invest in improvements to their local transport systems.

"With more than �8bn invested in improving local transport over the last five years, the government's determination to deliver better local transport is clear."

But Friends of the Earth transport campaigner Tony Bosworth said: "Alistair Darling's short-sighted decision will lead to one of the most beautiful valleys in Sussex being covered in concrete.

"It will create more problems than it will solve, and condemn the area to even more congestion and pollution in the future."

Friends of the Earth is part of the Hastings Alliance, a coalition of transport and environmental groups that have opposed the road.

Campaigners want to protect the valley's landscape and wildlife (picture courtesy Alison Walters/Friends of the Earth) Enlarge Image

The alliance argues that, although the road will not run directly through the part of Combe Haven Valley designated by English Nature a site of special scientific interest, the whole valley is a sensitive area where wildlife and landscape will be damaged.

Mike Turner, of Hastings Friends of the Earth, said: "The Combe Haven Valley is a beautiful and tranquil landscape that could be lost forever."