A councillor says the peace of the graveyard where the man who gave his name to Mount Everest is buried has been wrecked by the creation of a supermarket.

Sir George Everest rests in peace at St Andrew's, Hove - but opponents say that was shattered when trees were cut back and greenery as part of a Tesco development.

Tory councillor Anne Giebeler says it has resulted in birds deserting the site and says the new supermarket next door can be seen from inside the cemetery and is in stark contrast to the site's historic setting.

Coun Giebeler, who represents Goldsmid and visits the yard to tend her parent's graves, said: "I was shocked and saddened at the desecration of the churchyard.

"With the loss of greenery, the birds no longer have a home in the trees.

"It had always been a place among the greenery for contemplation and reflection but the Tesco store is taking this away from me."

Coun Giebeler said a listed flint wall was now bereft of greenery and trees left behind had been hacked.

She said: "A country churchyard has been turned into a bleak wasteland."

There has been strong opposition to the store and a petition objecting to its effect on the area was presented at the last meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council.

Despite the criticism, echoed by neighbours who say a new walkway from the store to George Street will also wreck the peace, church leaders have welcomed the development.

Father Henry Pryse, of St Andrew's, said the churchyard will be improved by the supermarket, which is due to be opened later this year.

He said the parochial church council was in favour of the development, which would have to be judged when it had been completed and says the clearance of ivy had made the graveyard more open.

This, he says, would stop antisocial behaviour by many people who used the yard as a public lavatory or who dumped rubbish there.

Mr Pryse said: "We should be opened and not barricaded from the rest of the world."

The store is being built on the former gasworks site off Church Road and the project also includes rebuilding St Andrew's Church of England school.

Councillor Bob Carden, chairman of Brighton and Hove City Council's planning committee, said: "The gasworks site was a complete and utter mess. The store will be much better.

"It will do George Street a lot of good and there have been discussions about having shopping there for a long time. It is what we have been waiting for."

He said that it is wrong to judge the new store until it is finished.

Sir George Everest had been a surveyor in India and Nepal when it was decided to give his name to the world's tallest mountain.