Villagers trying to defeat Brighton and Hove Albion's stadium plan are involved in a David and Goliath struggle, according to a parish priest.

Canon Andrew Robinson, priest of Stanmer with Falmer, said the proposal had caused "extreme agitation" to local people.

He told the public inquiry into the Village Way North stadium the quality of life of residents would deteriorate drastically if the 22,000-seat ground was built.

Canon Robinson said: "I am here to speak for those in the village community who, in effect, will be the most directly and permanently affected by this proposal."

He said villagers had been powerless to stand against the "aggressive interests" of the business venture, which the city council had associated itself and "relentlessly publicised" through the advertising campaign Falmer For All.

Noise, light and traffic pollution would make life and work intolerable for residents and students and the stadium would affect wedding and funeral services at Stanmer and Falmer churches.

Canon Robinson said the project was not of national importance and could not be justified in the Sussex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty or a candidate national park.

The 1999 referendum had been "misleading and appallingly flawed" and the question put before people in Brighton and Hove had been a non-choice.

He said: "The people of Falmer who will be most affected by the development had no democratic vote on its future in that process.

"This has led the community here to feel that we are in a David and Goliath situation with Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club taking the part of the Philistine Goliath, and Falmer taking the part of the shepherd boy David.

"Fortunately, the outcome of that contest was not the one those with power expected."

Mary Macpherson, representing the council, told the 18th day of the Hove Town Hall hearing the stadium would help the economic regeneration of East Brighton.

Jonathan Clay, representing the club, did not respond to Canon Robinson's comments.

Farmer Peter Lenihan said the Village Way North site contained high-quality agricultural land and should be protected from development.

John Woodruff, publican of the Swan Inn, Falmer, who has collected a 2,000-signature petition against the scheme, said the stadium would eat into the gap between the city and the village.

Fellow opponent John Warton said alternative sites, which had been rejected by the club, should be re-investigated by an independent body.

The inquiry is expected to last until at least early June.

The planning inspector John Collyer will send his report to the Government later in the summer.

A final decision is not expected until the autumn.