The latest regional economic research by the South East England Development Agency (Seeda) shows unemployment rates to be highest in coastal towns.

Hastings also has above-average unemployment for the South East.
The region's average rate is currently three per cent. Seeda's research covers East and West Sussex, Kent, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey.

In Hastings, 5.7 per cent of the labour market, 2,963 people, claim Job Seeker's Allowance compared with 3.5 per cent last year, the report states.

The report said parts of Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, not just Hastings, where manufacturing, transport and logistics companies were based had been worst hit by the economic downturn.

"A number of coastal districts have an above average concentration of manufacturing, construction and distribution and transport related activities which have been significantly affected by the recession," the report, called the South East Economy Review, states.