As part of this the building of the Phoenix Causeway (Phase 1 of 3) meant a section of the Lewes to Uckfield railway line was in the way – requiring either a level crossing or a road bridge.

Despite this, in 1966, the local Transport Users' Consultative Committee received notification from BR that the line from Lewes to Hurst Green Junction was to close in its entirety.

Their case used a motorway costing formula to show that the users would waste some £750,000 in excess travel compared to BR's calculated loss of only £260,000.

From the information requested by his predecessor, and of all the scenarios that were examined by the Minister, he agreed in August 1968 to the closure of the Lewes to Uckfield section of line.

Structural problems with the bridge over Cliffe High Street in Lewes were identified, which necessitated single-line working and from January 1969 a revised timetable with trains connecting at Barcombe Mills in place.

The last train at Isfield was on 24 February 1969 but a rail replacement bus service operated until 6 May, with the station closing on that date, the tickets latterly being sold from the signal box.

[5] Sale of the track bed and stations was postponed for some 15 years by a number of unsuccessful attempts to re-open the closed section of line.

This extended to a bridge over the river Uck (approximately 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) north of the present Worth Halt) until the Uckfield bypass (opened 1985) severed the trackbed.

In cooperation with the Bluebell Railway Dave Milham purchased track material from British Rail, made available from work being done at Croydon.

This engine proved too large for the then 1⁄4 mile (0.40 km) railway, however, and was sold to Clifford Brown, a British-born American businessman living in Virginia, USA.

Work started in December 2011 on building a halt style platform at the Uck river bridge, together with a picnic area.

The construction of the halt allows passengers to travel between two permanent stations, whilst the line remains limited to its current 1 mile (1.6 km) length.

[9] Any reopening might affect the operations of the Lavender Line or entail a move to a new location, but this depends on the details of any final scheme adopted.

[10] In December 2008, following the rejection of the reopening proposal, a petition was presented to East Sussex County Council asking it to acquire the trackbed from the Lavender Line's northern boundary to the former site of Uckfield station (which had been relocated further north in the meantime), to lease back the section and to allow heritage services to be run over it.