Plans for a seafront tower up to 12 storeys high have been crushed.

Councillors unanimously rejected a scheme for 98 flats, offices and an underground car park on the site of the former Caffyns garage showroom in Kingsway, Hove.

More than 150 neighbours had objected to the proposal and developer Berkeley Homes admitted it underestimated the strength of public feeling against the tower.

Officials at Brighton and Hove City Council had ripped the scheme to shreds in their report on the application and gave a dozen different reasons why planning permission should be refused.

They said the application failed to meet guidelines on job creation and affordable housing and believed the height, scale and design failed to complement surrounding properties and would have led to a loss of privacy.

Paul Richardson, a 40-year-old engineer who lives in Roman Road, next to the site, said the fear of living in the shadow of a "totally dominating neighbour" had caused great anxiety and worry among neighbours.

He told councillors at yesterday's planning meeting: "This proposal is clearly ridiculous. It is too tall, too dense, unneighbourly and would be completely out of place given its surroundings."

The campaign against the tower was backed by Celia Barlow, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Hove and Portslade, who before the meeting handed a petition of 130 signatures to planning committee chairman Bob Carden. They included that of celebrity DJ Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim, who lives nearby.

Mrs Barlow said: "I am all in favour of affordable housing but it has to be appropriate. In this case a 12-storey block on that residential site was grossly inappropriate."

Alan Phillip, whose company designed the glass tower as a landmark gateway to the city, defended the application against the claims.

He said the site was appropriate for a tall building because it was on the boundary between recreational and industrial parts of the city.

But Garry Peltzer Dunn, leader of the Conservative group on Brighton and Hove City Council and one of the leading campaigners against the tower, disagreed.

He said: "Imagine the noise and pollution in the area. There would be a fundamental environmental change to the neighbourhood."

Angus Michie, development director of Berkeley Homes, said the company would now be considering its options.