There has been a strong and vocal opposition to plans for a £220 million seafront leisure and flats complex.

Posters against the scheme are on display in people's windows the length and breadth of Hove.

So it was surprising to find, in a poll of people on the streets yesterday that a slim majority of those questioned were in favour of the plans.

The straw poll of 30 people conducted by The Argus found 57 per cent said they backed a scheme by developer Karis to provide the community with a £48 million leisure centre free of charge in exchange for the profit from the sale of hundreds of flats.

The poll, conducted in George Street, Hove, and Churchill Square, Brighton, found 17 people in support, 12 against and one undecided - demonstrating the extent to which the project has divided the community.

Supporters believe agreeing to the construction of 754 flats, of which 37 per cent are low-cost, is a price worth paying for a badly-needed sports facility. They argue the development would address the city's need for extra accommodation. Opponents often admit the sports centre would make an important and attractive addition to the seafront but argue the scale of the development and number of flats is too large.

Members of Brighton and Hove City Council's policy and resources committee are due to vote as land owner's of the Kingsway site on whether to allow the development to proceed to planning committee. They will have to decide whether the latest stage of the development complies with the design briefs.

The council's major projects team has already indicated it considers the scheme viable and largely compliant.

There is less than a week to go before Monday's crucial meeting.

Martin Perry, chief executive of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club, said yesterday: "I want to see the sports facilities in this city brought up to Olympic standards and here is an opportunity we should grasp with open arms."

Mr Perry praised developer Karis for pledging to invest thousands of pounds in training young people in construction skills to work on the project.

But Ken Fines, of campaign group Hova, said: "This scheme would be totally destructive of the refined image of Hove. The density of the development is something that would not have been regarded as acceptable in the heyday of high rise in the Sixties and Seventies. We haven't got the infrastructure."