People on a deprived Brighton estate who have battled for years to shake off its rough reputation are angry at a new musical play.

They say reinforces negative stereotypes.

Hello, Bright City is a show based on life in Brighton featuring the evil antics of media magnate Mr White and his sidekick Mr Hawk, who cause chaos across the city. There are murders, fires and robberies all documented by roving reporter Alfie King.

There are dozens of other characters in the production with names relating to the city, including a copper cheekily named PC John Street.

But people living in the Whitehawk estate are concerned the use of its name will add to the tarnished impression of the area as a no-go zone.

The estate, and the rest of East Brighton, is the subject of a £47.2 million Government regeneration programme called eb4u (east brighton for you). The ten-year programme is aiming to improve all social, educational and employment aspects of the area.

Writer Michael Hinton, from Ditchling, and his director son John met community leaders to discuss the implications of his choice of names for the baddies.

Mr Hinton said he had not consciously chosen the names because of the negative reputation the estate had in the past but told the representatives: "I looked at White and Hawk and they seemed suitable names, not because they are particularly evil."

Phil Doyle, a resident and vice-chair of the eb4u board, said: "We can all see it is a very nice piece of work but we are a little worried because there's a lot of money going into Whitehawk at the moment. It could reinforce the view of people outside the area."

John Mitchell, of eb4u, said perpetuating a negative image of East Brighton had unfair repercussions for the residents.

Mr Hinton said he had no idea his musical would upset residents.

He and his son John, a drama graduate, have agreed with community leaders to run drama workshops with East Brighton young people in the run-up to the show.

The musical Hello, Bright City, will be performed at Ditchling Village Hall from May 20 to 24. For ticket, visit www.hellobrightcity.com or 01273 845635.