Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown's appearance at the Brighton Festival could be hijacked by protesters, furious about spiralling property costs.

Frustrated first-time buyers plan to picket the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he speaks about the UK's booming economy at the Dome Concert Hall.

As recently revealed in The Argus, house prices in the city are rising by more than £500 a week - the fastest since records began.

Figures show the average asking price in Brighton and Hove jumped £27,000 last year, making the city the fastest-growing property market in Britain.

With Tony Blair expected to stand down on Thursday, Mr Brown's appearance at the festival on Sunday will be one of his first as the leader-elect of the country.

Web-based campaigners plan to sabotage the event to highlight the housing affordability crisis.

A spokesman for pressure group Priced Out said: "Brighton was recently cited as having the fastest growing property prices in the country.

"The end result of this is that more and more of Brighton's younger families and individuals are being forced from the city, having to give up on their aspirations to own their home and, in some cases, even delay starting a family.

"This is not only bad news for homebuyers in Brighton, but it also impacts the local economy and environment, pushing up business costs, making it harder to attract staff and creating more pollution by forcing people to commute."

The web campaign is asking for others to help with the street-side protest. Other sites such as First Rung.org have already joined up.

Figures from the Land Registry show the value of a typical home in the city is rising by £74 a day.

The price of the average home in Brighton and Hove had reached more than £217,000 by March.

In a statement, the sites quote Mr Brown's budget speech in 1997: "I will not allow house prices to get out of control and put at risk the sustainability of the recovery."

A spokesman for Priced Out added: "Despite the Chancellor's stated intention to keep a tight rein on house prices, they have trebled during his tenure.

"According to the Halifax, prices are now unaffordable for first-time buyers in 75 per cent of UK towns. The situation in Brighton is particularly bad.

"The Government could be addressing this problem by targeting local building to meet the needs of young families and people.

"Instead, the majority of building projects are now solely aimed at property market investors and neglect the community's needs."

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