On Good Friday, as my husband and I were walking along the Hove end of the seafront, a man with a petition approached us.

The petition, he said, was to save the seafront from development.

A noble cause we are sure most would agree and, judging by the number of signatures he had collected, it seems a lot of people care deeply about this issue.

The gentleman, whose name we did not get, then told us the plans were the manifesto of Don Brown, running for councillor for the Labour Party for the Westbourne area.

We were also told that this so-called "monster" wanted to take away the beach huts, remove the views of neighbouring residents and, seemingly, block the sun from the sky.

These wild accusations could apparently be upheld through two very confusing sentences at the bottom of a Labour leaflet.

This all seemed very compelling evidence, apart from one thing: We know Don Brown and know how deeply he cares about local residents' opinions and local issues.

Although he is deeply committed to modernising Hove Lagoon to make it more family-friendly, he is not in any sense interested in touching the seafront in any other area.

The saddest aspect of this is that when we asked this gentleman if he would like to speak to Mr Brown about his concerns, he was very definite he would not.

This means he will never understand what Mr Brown really stands for.

It is a shame one man can take it upon himself with only half the information and campaign against something that is not even an issue and, in doing so, muddy the name of an otherwise moral and dedicated person.

We urge anyone approached by this man not to sign this petition and tell him he needs to understand the facts first.

-Mr and Mrs Pearson, Hove