A new image of a controversial shoreline development planned for the West Pier in Brighton has sparked a fresh row.

Members of the Save Our Seafront (SOS) campaign said two pictures, giving before and after impressions of the development, showed the devastating impact it would have on the historic seafront.

However, the Brighton West Pier Trust said the scheme for two pavilions on either side of the pier had been consistently misrepresented.

The pictures were issued with the planning application submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council by developers St Modwen, who are in partnership with the trust.

SOS spokesman Derek Granger said: "Nothing illustrates better the appalling way these structures will totally obliterate views of the sea on one of the finest stretches of Brighton's Victorian seafront.

"The transparency of these buildings is also a myth. Because of their depth north to south they will be partitioned east to west.

"Apart from partitioning, they will also be full of staff and customers and all the paraphernalia of the retail cafe trade.

"We believe the hideous effect of these structures, comparable to the kind of retail and catering outlets to be found in airports and railway stations, will have a degrading effect on Brighton's seafront and set a hideous precedent for future development along the shoreline."

Trust chief executive Dr Geoff Lockwood said the height of the development would only be the same as Alfresco's restaurant and the rock shop on the pier.

Dr Lockwood said the scheme extended the promenade, providing unrestricted views and better views of the pier.

People walking along the prom would still be able to see the sea and the development would not be the solid wall claimed by SOS. There would also be new views from the pier itself.

Dr Lockwood said an alternative scheme by SOS, keeping all shoreline development below prom level, had been rejected because of cost and viability.

Dr Lockwood said the dark, single-sided spaces of the SOS scheme would not attract high quality businesses needed to reflect the ambience of the restored pier.

He said: "Their creation would repeat the faults of the Aquarium Terraces which our design has sought to avoid with light, two-sided commercial spaces and attractive walkways."

He said the trust's scheme was costed and tested. The SOS scheme was not.

Dr Lockwood said: "Even if their scheme was viable, implementing it would put us back two years, provided a private sector partner could be found.

"The trust is clear that, after seven years of negotiation, the present scheme is the way forward."