Sovereign Harbour was marketed in the late Eighties as a replica of the delightful Honfleur harbour village in Normandy.

What has emerged since 1993 is a multi-million pound commercial centre which is destined to become the UK's largest marina complex, with 65 acres of water space and 265 acres of housing development.

But residents living there say two huge developments threaten to destroy the dream they bought into.

Up to 260 high-rise flats have been approved, while B&Q is expected to put forward an application early next year for a store on the site.

How the vision of a marina idyll switched to what residents say will amount to a sprawling housing estate has been the subject of fervent debate.

An opposition group called Sovereign Harbour Residents' Association has raised more than £3,000 towards a fighting fund to take the flats approval to judicial review.

The group has gathered more than 2,300 signatures from across Eastbourne calling for the plans to be dropped.

Members say building such lofty flats - six blocks, six to eight-storeys high - would be a monstrous addition to one of Eastbourne's prime sites.

Yet supporters believe the development, by High Wycombe-based Redrow Homes, would enhance the already thriving marina.

Chartered planner Chris Berry said Eastbourne Borough Council's decision to approve the plans in August had set a dangerous precedent, giving free rein for developers to build what they liked.

Mr Berry, the Lib Dem's parliamentary contender for Eastbourne, said: "Other developers will queue up to increase the density of developments now Redrow has its way."

Supporters, including Lib Dem councillor Maurice Skilton, have been criticised for supporting the plans yet living some distance from the harbour.

Mr Skilton, who first outlined the Honfleur vision, says he is saddened by such comments.

He said: "To me, it's a development which will enhance the village by a developer with a second-to-none reputation.

"It has saddened me there has been such opposition. The village has got the best with this development, I'm sure of it."

Residents' association chairman Paul Brown says residents are fuming over a lack of public consultation and misinformation which they say lulled them into a false sense of security.

He said: "We are not a bunch of hotheads with nothing better to do with our time.

"We are working people who, on average, have invested £150,000 in properties but feel we've been betrayed by elected members.

"Apart from the plan itself, we are livid at being told one thing, yet find out later something else.

"We have been told the village would be similar to that in Honfleur but Honfleur doesn't have high-density developments."

He said the marina already has a lack of amenities for residents and added: "What will happen when the number of people who live there more than doubles?"

The residents' association itself has been beset by infighting.

Two leading members, Benita Poole and Mark Ager, have quit and confusion has reigned over the deadline to file for judicial review, which is the residents' only hope of forcing a change in the plans.

Yet Mr Brown says the campaign has regained its momentum and talks are continuing with Redrow.

He said: "This isn't an anti-Redrow campaign. We bought into a dream and we don't want that destroyed because of ignorance."