A site has been found for a new bowls centre to replace the one facing demolition under Frank Gehry's £290 million seafront plans.

Developers behind the proposals for the new King Alfred Centre were unable to find space for a bowls rink inside the sports complex but agreed to put up £2.5 million to build one on another site.

Officials at Brighton and Hove City Council have recommended Hove Park Yard in The Droveway as the location for a new six-rink centre.

The site is used by the council as a grounds maintenance depot.

Ray Pickett, committee member of the King Alfred Indoor Bowls Club, said: "Everybody supports it because otherwise we wouldn't have a club.

"It doesn't matter where it is as long as we get one. We want an end to the instability."

The proposal will be discussed at a meeting of the council's environment committee tomorrow when members will also discuss plans to increase swimming capacity at the Prince Regent leisure centre in Brighton when the King Alfred pools are out of action during any redevelopment.

This would involve installing a moveable floor in the diving pool to create a new teaching pool.

The changing rooms would be upgraded and money would be made available to assist with travel expenses for schools and clubs.

The estimated £450,000 costs of the work at the leisure centre would be paid by the King Alfred developers.

Sue John, deputy council leader and chairwoman of the King Alfred project board, said: "This looks like a promising way forward for bowls and a good temporary stopgap for swimming."

The new King Alfred would contain three pools: a main pool of 25m in length with eight lanes and a moveable floor, a leisure pool designed to be fun and challenging for children under eight years old and a 20m teaching pool with a moveable floor.

The sports hall and gym facilities would include eight badminton courts, five-a-side football, volleyball and a multipurpose sports hall suitable for table tennis, martial arts and fencing.

The centre would also include a cafe, a soft play area for the under-eights, a creche for children under five years old, a meeting room for training and community events and a health and fitness suite, which would feature a gym, workout studio, sauna, steam room, hydrotherapy pool and consultation rooms for sports injuries and massage.

The development would also contain 754 homes in two "crumpled" towers and several lower accommodation buildings, of which about 40 per cent would be for key workers or those families on the council's housing waiting list.

Members of the council's planning committee are expected to vote on the proposals by the end of May.