Hundreds of people are expected to sign a petition to stop their community being split in half.

The Friends of Brunswick Square and Terrace are spearheading a campaign to prevent changes to boundaries which they say would wreck the historic area.

The campaign started on Saturday and signatures will be handed to the Local Government Commission by April 23.

The petition urges the commission to "respect and clearly distinguish" the communities of Brunswick.

The draft proposals to change the current council wards would create an east-west divide down the centre of Brunswick Terrace.

A campaign spokesman said: "The petition is to support the preservation of Brunswick Town and the Brunswick Conservation Area within the new ward.

"It is grossly inconvenient for the proper representation and administration of the Brunswick Conservation Area and its concentration of listed buildings."

Local councillor Paul Elgood said: "I am strongly against the boundary changes because it would affect an historic community. The views of local residents have been ignored at the early stages."

A spokesman for the Local Government Commission said: "We are currently out for public consultation on our draft recommendations and we will take into account all the representations that we receive by April 23, which is when the consultation period comes to an end."

Brunswick Square and Brunswick Terrace date from 1824 and contain about 100 Grade I listed buildings.

People living in the Brunswick Town Conservation Area form a community which comprises Brunswick and extends to Little Western Street, Adelaide Crescent, Palmeira Square and St John's Road.