A call has been made for Hastings to rejoin an organisation to help promote tourism to the area.

Hastings MP Helena Dollimore said she and Labour borough councillors want the town to be part the 1066 Country Marketing Partnership.

The board promotes the 378-square-mile area, known as 1066 Country, which covers Hastings, Rye, Battle, Bexhill and Pevensey, as well as other towns and villages like Winchelsea and Camber.

Hastings Borough Council withdrew its annual £50,000 investment from the partnership in early 2023 due to budgetary pressures.

Cllr Billie Barnes said: “The Bayeux Tapestry returning to Britain represents an exceptional, once-in-a-generation opportunity for the area. It is vital to put on a united effort as ‘one 1066 Country’ to maximise regional tourism opportunities and profile.”

Ms Dollimore said: “The opening of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in September this year and the Year of the Normans in 2027 give an ideal opportunity for Hastings to market itself as part of 1066 Country, which is being widely mentioned and promoted already. It makes no sense for Hastings to be central to the history narrative but separate from the body that is promoting it.

“I hear from many local businesses that rely on tourism and really want Hastings to return to the 1066 Country Tourism partnership.

“In the year the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition is shining a global spotlight on our area, and with the exciting display of the Hastings Embroidery planned in the town hall, it is so important that we do all we can to take advantage of this opportunity for our area.

“With Hastings Borough Council receiving a record funding settlement from the Labour Government this year, now is the time to return to this important partnership and I hope councillors will support this.”

She added that tourism provides up to 20 per cent of jobs in Hastings, supporting a wide range of independent businesses across town.