A petition against plans for a 40-storey skyscraper which would transform the seafront will be handed to councillors.

The 420ft block of apartments, dubbed the Roaring Forties, would be the centre-piece of a £175 million development dominating Brighton Marina and would be the tallest building in Sussex.

Campaigners will hold a demonstration at the marina when Brighton and Hove City Council's planning committee visits the site on Friday afternoon.

Newsreader Carol Barnes, who lives at the marina, will hand a petition objecting to the development to local Conservative councillors Mary Mears and David Smith who represent Rottingdean Coastal.

About 200 people attended a meeting, organised by Brighton Marina Residents' Association, at Alias Hotel Seattle on Sunday to discuss ways to scupper Brunswick Developments' application for planning permission.

The Brighton Marina Act 1968 states nothing can be built taller than the height of the cliff.

The developer had expected to get around this by invoking a section which allows Brighton and Hove City Council to vary the Act's terms.

But campaigners have uncovered transcripts of parliamentary debates suggesting the clause was only ever intended to allow the council to permit the construction of basic features such as lamp posts.

Peter Martin, deputy chairman of Brighton Marina Residents' Association, said: "There is a deep feeling of injustice as to what the council is up to. These plans would be a gross over-development and people are shocked as to what is going on."