Newsreader Carol Barnes will today urge visitors to Brighton Marina to oppose plans for a 40-storey skyscraper.

She will ask shoppers and restaurant customers to sign a petition opposing Brunswick Developments' £235 million revised application to build 853 homes.

The centrepiece of the scheme would be the skyscraper. There would also be a swing bridge, allowing people to walk or cycle all the way around the marina, seven bars and restaurants and a multi-purpose sports court.

But the Brighton Marina Residents' Action Group, of which Ms Barnes is a member, is campaigning against the plans.

Andrew Nicholson, 44, also a member, said: "We've got 2,000 signatures. The building work will be at 65 decibels and that will devastate business on the boardwalk. Residents also feel it will be an overdevelopment."

Brighton and Hove City Council's planning sub-committee will hear the application at Hove Town Hall at 1pm on June 30.