Thousands of people have written to have their say on the proposed closure of "Brighton's cathedral".

The Church Commissioners will make the final decision about plans to shut St Peter's Church in York Place but said they have been overwhelmed with letters and petitions.

St Peter's has been the parish church of Brighton since 1873.

The architect was Sir Charles Barry, who went on to design the Houses of Parliament.

Despite being the city's biggest and best known church, the Parochial Church Council (PCC) voted to shut St Peter's in October because it is no longer financially viable to keep it running.

A public consultation on the plan ends officially tomorrow - Wednesday at midnight. Only letters and emails received by this time will be considered.

A spokesman said they had already received hundreds of letters and thousands of signatures about the proposals.

He said the commissioners could only make their decision based on the arguments put forward by the public and were not allowed to use their own reasoning so it was important everyone was clear about why they were opposing or supporting the plans.

He added: "St Peter's Church was always going to be controversial.

We have started measuring the representations in inches rather than numbers now - there have been so many.

"The commissioners act as a disinterested party and we are impartial and independent and consider all the representations made to us.

"Nothing is a forgone conclusion as the committee regularly throw things out.

"It is important for people to be clear in their letters and they should clearly state the reasons for objecting to or supporting the proposals."

Following tomorrow's deadline, replies will be sent to all those who have made a representation and a hearing date will be set for March.

The commissioners could ask the bishop to come up with different options.

There was a surge of opposition after the recommendation was first announced last year.

Since then, more than 6,000 people have written letters or signed petitions calling for St Peter's Church to be saved.

The efforts were well received by the church's own committee, which believes it would be possible to keep the church open with better organisation and use of the building as a concert venue.

The Friends of St Peter's Church are hoping people will make a last-minute stand by writing in with their views.

They said the future of the building depended on the number of people who write to object to the closure plans.

They stressed letters should be written about how vital the church is for the city, rather than its architectural value.

katya.mira @theargus.co.uk

  • To have your say write to Rex Andrew, Pastoral Division, Church Commissioners, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ, or email rex.andrew@cofe.org.uk