Actors were given £100 each to form a "rent-a-mob" at council meetings where they backed the controversial King Alfred development, it has been claimed.

A handful of people, some trainee actors, are said to have been paid to gather outside Hove Town Hall and pack the public gallery at the two planning committees which decided the fate of one of the city's most important projects.

It remained unclear last night who was behind the mob but the tactic was described as "unfair and undemocratic".

The £290 million development will be Frank Gehry's first buildings in England and will include 750 homes, a new leisure centre and host of other benefits.

Developer Karis said it had assembled a group of willing supporters to speak for the silent majority in the city which backed the scheme and was unaware of any actors or fake supporters.

A spokeswoman said they had not employed anybody to support the scheme, directly or through an agency.

She said: "Every day I sent emails to people on our database that I had been gathering over the last four years.

"We reminded everyone to make sure they came along to the meeting."

Genuine spectators were turned away because of a lack of space at the first meeting on March 23 at which planning permission was granted on the casting vote of the chairman.

At a second meeting in July, the project's final hurdle, members of conservation groups were forced to listen to the debate in an overspill room.

Janette Eddisford, the principal of acting school The Academy Of Creative Training, in Rock Place, Brighton, said she had expelled a student after uncovering the recruitment of pupils in an email.

She said the pupil had been employed through an agency and that the budding thespian was asked to recruit other actors and friends to play the part of King Alfred supporters.

The agency had even handed out acting sheets before the first meeting suggesting the job was part of a film, she said.

The fake demonstrators were then paid £60 in cash for the first planning meeting in March, it is alleged, and £15 an hour for the second committee last month.

Ms Eddisford said up to eight students at The Academy Of Creative Training, Brighton, were involved without staff members' knowledge.

She said staff were scrupulous about what jobs students were allowed to do and she was angry that some had gone behind her back.

She said: "Students from the school have gone on to do some really good things and our reputation is fragile.

"If students do any acting work, we are made aware of it to protect them and help them build up their show reel.

"I feel very sorry for the student involved who I feel has been exploited.

"She accepted clearly without stopping to consider the implications. The students were told it was an acting job and they were given sheets in preparation.

"They thought they were being filmed as protesters taking part in a demonstration.

"They had no idea it was a genuine public protest until they got there."

Ms Eddisford said she was annoyed with those who decided to take part in the second demonstration after the true nature of the job had emerged.

Councillor Averil Older, a longstanding opponent of the scheme, alleged during the meeting in March that some of the supporters were a "rent-a-mob".

Yesterday she said: "It was my opinion that they had been asked to come along to fill up the public gallery and make a lot of noise.

"They were all 18 and 19 years old and I thought they may have been architecture students.

"I think it was most unfair and undemocratic."