Greens want the background to Brighton and Hove Albion's new stadium securing planning permission investigated by a council watchdog.

The Green Party claims there was "deliberate interference" with the planning process and a recommendation to refuse permission had been altered.

Brighton and Hove City Council's planning committee approved the project in principle last month by 11 votes to one, subject to 30 conditions.

The request for an internal watchdog to investigate the events leading up to the June 12 meeting will be considered by the authority's chief scrutiny committee on Monday.

Green councillor Pete West claimed the officer responsible for the application indicated he would advise the stadium was refused permission because of doubts about a transport interchange.

Coun West said a corporate decision had been taken to override the advice and recommend the stadium, at Village Way North, Falmer, should be approved.

Other claims to be put to councillors at Monday's meeting include:

The timetable for deciding the application was speeded up, to serve political rather than planning requirements.

Crucial details about the project were not included in the report put before councillors at the meeting.

The club's most recent business case had not been subject to scrutiny by outside consultants.

A cross-party council task group that had overseen the scheme for three years was disbanded before it could report on the final application.

Coun West, who sat on the now defunct task group, said: "These concerns are too important for us to pretend they do not exist. The whole affair needs to be brought out into the open.

"We are not prepared to stand by and watch this deliberate interference with the planning system and abuse of the council's position as a local planning authority."

The council said it would not comment on the Green Party's allegations prior to Monday's meeting.

One of the conditions of the planning permission is the Village Way South transport interchange, at the centre of the claim, would only be permitted if Lewes District Council refused permission to build at an alternative site.

Many of the details excluded from the planning report were put before councillors in other papers.

Planning committee chairman Bob Carden said there had been a clear-cut decision and scrutiny hearings were unnecessary.