Stars living on an exclusive Millionaires' Row have lost their battle to stop juggernauts thundering past their seafront homes.

Paul McCartney, Fatboy Slim, Zoe Ball and Nick Berry have failed in their bid to stop a lorry depot being built nearby.

The celebrities had been expecting an Adur District Council planning application for the depot close to their homes in Western Esplanade, Hove, to be thrown out.

But councillors last night ignored recommendations to refuse permission and gave the lorries the green light to move on to land only yards from their £1 million-plus homes.

The latest blow comes just weeks after the council passed plans for a giant peat processing plant a few hundred yards away in Basin Road South, Shoreham Harbour.

The haulage depot will be used as a base for juggernauts up to 38 tonnes.

With the peat plant, it could see up to 130 lorries a day rumbling past the white-washed homes which all have their own private beaches.

Coun Mike Mendoza, deputy planning chairman, confirmed the council had received objections from the stars.

He said: "They objected to the peat plant and they objected again to the latest application for the haulage depot.

"However, Shoreham is a working port and we have to consider carefully applications for port-related uses.

"The land concerned is already used as a vehicle recovery depot which generates more lorry movements every day than the new use would.

"The applicants already have a site on the opposite side of the harbour and simply wanted to relocate.

"We have to look at the overall effect in terms of benefit to the harbour and the local economy."

Axtra Ltd is based at Sussex Wharf, Shoreham, but is being forced to move because of an impending redevelopment of the site into homes and offices.

The company has a fleet of 12 vehicles and expects 15 lorries to come and go each day.

The peat processing plant on an adjacent site will lead to another 100 HGV movements each day.

It was approved despite fierce opposition from the Western Esplanade residents.

Councillors last night voted six to one in favour of Axtra's application, despite concerns about the increased traffic from Brighton and Hove City Council.

Labour Co-operative councillor David Munnery objected to the scheme, saying traffic in the area was already "utter chaos."

Wednesday July 23, 2003