Marina expansion plans declined

About 1,000 flats were proposed, partly housed in a 37-storey tower

Plans to build a £175m development for Brighton Marina have been turned down by the town's council.

Brighton and Hove City Council's planning committee voted against the plans, which included a 40-storey tower, on Friday evening.

The proposals were deemed too big, out of keeping with the area, lacked amenity space and would create traffic and parking problems.

Supporters of the project hoped it would regenerate the marina.

But it was turned down by nine votes to three, even though council officers had recommended that councillors should approve the scheme.

Their report said the design, by award-winning architects Wilkinson Eyre, was an "innovative and high quality design".

Councillors decided the plans were out of keeping with the area

But objectors, who last week handed over a petition signed by hundreds of people against the scheme, always maintained it would "overwhelm" the area.

They said it also flouted the Brighton Marina Act of 1968, which prevents buildings rising higher than the cliff top.

The proposed tower, along with 10 15-storey blocks, included nearly 1,000 flats, 400 of them "affordable".

Bars, restaurants and a lifeboat station were also planned.