CAMPAIGNERS will take a legal challenge against the Brighton Marina redevelopment to senior law lords in June as progress on building the expansion gathers pace.

The long-running dispute over the legality of eleven towers due to be built as part of a £250 million redevelopment will be heard in court over the summer, campaigners told a planning committee meeting yesterday.

Campaigners Robert Powell and Professor John Watts told councillors they will contest that all 11 towers are “illegal” and in contravention of the 1968 act that permitted the original creation of the marina.

The marina owners say the current legal action will have no impact on the ongoing construction work which is scheduled to be completed next summer.

Both parties attended yesterday’s planning committee to speak on proposed amendments to the 2006 planning permission to build 853 new homes in 11 towers ranging from six to 40 storeys.

Among the amendments granted by the committee was the removal of the RNLI souvenir shop from the marina with the charity hoping to set up a new shop near the Palace Pier.

Brunswick Developments successfully applied for amendments in redesigning a performing arts area to replace a raised stage with stepped seating and the removal of 436 square metres of proposed offices.

The Brighton Yacht Club will also be relocated within the marina, a revamped car park will include 350 spaces and the amount of restaurant space will be increased.

Andrew Goodall, of Brunswick Developments, said 100 construction workers were currently on site rising to 300 at the height of the project with 40% of these jobs going to local workers.

He dismissed safety concerns about the lowering of the tidal wall as untrue and said other issues concerning sewerage systems had been resolved with the recent increased capacity of the sewer network.

Mr Goodall said 20 shared ownership homes due to be completed by October had already been snapped up, adding: “Our aim is to create the world class leisure destination in the whole of the UK.”

But Mr Powell said: “Two of the eleven towers fall west of the development under the Brighton Marina Act, they are illegal, and all the towers may be illegal.

“We will present our case on June 16 and 17 and the meaning of the Brighton Marina Act will be determined by three law lords.”

Coun Mears added her own concerns about the “salami slicing” of the original 2006 permission by subsequent developer amendments and called for “strict conditions” around safety to be included in the new planning permission.

She said: “Should anything go wrong, we are all exposed to corporate risk and that concerns me greatly.”