Part of a popular seafront park faces destruction to make room for a new road junction for heavy lorries.

Consultants drawing up a study of traffic on the main A259 want to build over part of the park next to Hove Lagoon.

They say it will make it easier for trucks entering and leaving Shoreham Harbour.

The consultants did not say how much land would be lost to the remodelled junction, where Wharf Road meets Kingsway, when the proposal emerged at a meeting on the traffic plans.

Organisations involved in the study, among them Brighton and Hove City Council, stressed the junction proposal had not been finalised.

Ian Davey, of Brighton, Hove and Mid Sussex Friends of the Earth, said the consultants agreed a new junction was being considered and would involve building on land in the lagoon area.

He said the new junction would attract more traffic on to the already congested A259.

He said: "It is putting a quart into a pint pot. It is just not possible. Really, it will just exacerbate the problem."

Adur councillor Peter Berry said planners wanted to make the eastern approach to Shoreham harbour easier for articulated lorries.

He said: "They would have to take some land but they did not specify which bit of land they would take."

The proposal is part of the emerging Shoreham and Southwick Urban Transport Plan, intended to tackle traffic problems between Shoreham town centre and West Hove.

The prospect of a larger road junction angered people who have worked hard during the last few years to rejuvenate Hove Lagoon.

Wish ward councillor Heather James called for urgent talks with council officials.

She said: "It is outrageous it should even be considered.

"It would be totally unacceptable. This is a public recreation space and it should remain so."

The traffic study, part of a wider regeneration under the Shoreham Maritime Vision project, includes road and environmental improvements as well as proposals to boost public transport and cycling.

The council, responsible for highways at the eastern end of the study area, said nothing would be finalised until a final draft of the plan was published, probably early next year.

A spokeswoman said some investigative work was being carried out but the council had yet to endorse any of the proposals.

She said: "We have yet to receive a final report."