The UK's first beach sports centre could be built on Brighton seafront under ambitious plans to regenerate the shoreline.

The £500,000 development is being backed by volleyball champion Katie Randall who hopes the centre will put the city on the sporting map in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

Six sand-surface volley ball courts which could be used for footvolley, international beach soccer or beach rugby are included in the plans for the site on a former playground off Madeira Drive.

Two climbing walls, one for children, and a healthy-menu cafe are also included in the scheme submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council planners.

The development is the brainchild of Katie, of St Leonard's Road, Hove, her partner Spencer Mintram and her father Alan, who together form Yellowave Beach Sports.

Katie, 30, who now works full-time in public relations, said: "I am passionate this development is going to work because I love beach sports and because volleyball was one of the most-watched sports at the Athens Olympics.

"Beach sports immediately give you the feeling of being on holiday when you step out on the sand and even though there is a volleyball court already, it is always booked up."

City council leaders have already named Yellowave as the preferred bidder for the site, which sits at the heart of the latest stage of regeneration plans for land to the east of the Palace Pier.

Katie is hoping people will come to associate Brighton with beach sports in the way Newquay is synonymous with surfing. She set up Yellowave after returning from travels around America and Australia in 2002 where shorelines are dotted with volleyball courts.

The scheme is attracting increasing attention from national sporting organisations following London's successful Olympic bid and the decision by world governing football body Fifa to launch an international beach soccer cup.

Katie, who used to compete in the British Beach Volleyball Series and was at one-time ranked fourth in country, said: "This centre will put Brighton on the sporting map, link us with the Olympics and give us possibly the only project which the city can get its teeth into for the Games in 2012."

City council leader Ken Bodfish said: "The main reason for backing this is to get some great facilities for residents and visitors and regenerate the seafront between the pier and marina.

"It's very early days in the process of getting any Olympic training camps here but clearly the more facilities we have the better.

"We still need to discuss with Sport England what sports we might offer."

A London 2012 spokesman said: "It is exactly the sort of thing we think will tempt teams from all over the world to set up camp and train in advance of the Games."