Campaigners fighting to save a protected beach have forced a council to allow the matter to be resolved democratically.

Adur Council had planned to transfer 40 tonnes of shingle from Shoreham Beach to Southwick to replace shingle lost from the coastline during storms last winter.

However, campaigners are worried that the removal of the shingle from Shoreham Beach could devastate plant life.

Parts of Shoreham Beach are home to rare vegetative shingle plants found only there and in New Zealand. Shoreham Beach has been declared a Nature Conservation site to protect them.

But residents say that lorries will have to cross the beach so that the shingle can be loaded on to them.

They believe the combined effect of the lorry movements and the removal of so much shingle could destabilise the beach and threaten the endangered plants.

Adur councillor Liza McKinney said that council planning officers had given Shoreham Port Authority permission to extract the shingle and use it to replace shingle at Southwick. She said: "This is such an important issue that we feel it is not something which should be decided by council officers.

"Shoreham Beach is an amenity enjoyed not only by residents, but by people in Shoreham town centre and from outside the area.

"We have been pressing the council to have this issue decided democratically and they have now agreed.

"It will be debated at the meeting of the policy and resources committee on September 12.

"We are expecting a big turnout as there are so many people who are opposed to these plans.

"More than 500 people have signed our petition, many of them from outside the area."