The team behind plans for a £10 million seafront monorail announced today it would run on the same amount of electricity needed for a simple phone call.

The ultra-efficient Brighton Bullet, the UK's first city monorail which would link the marina and the Palace Pier, would use just 48 volts - traditional monorails require at least 1,000 volts.

Businessman David Courtney, who founded the city's Walk of Fame, has been working for four years to find financial backing and put together plans for the Bullet. He said the system could be built in 12 months once planning permission had been approved.

He said: "The technology means the power is in the train itself, not the track. So you don't have to dig up all the roads to lay cables, meaning it can be built very quickly. It is also a very green form of transport. There are virtually no emissions."

Surrey-based company Frazer Nash has designed the system and will invest £5 million worth of rolling stock.

Former Dollar star David Van Day, who lives in Brighton, has joined the Brighton Monorail and Tram Company, which is preparing a planning application to be submitted within the next six months.

He said: "This is the future. The ground space has gone with all the cars and traffic there is today. If we want to go somewhere quickly we are going to have to go in the air.

"The emissions from monorail are no more than would be given off from a fridge."

Mr Courtney, Mr Van Day and fellow directors Mike Holland and John Regan are working with RPS Transport and architects Lomax Cassidy and Edwards, which designed the new Brighton library, on the planning application.

Mr Courtney said: "People are talking about building one in Oxford Street now but I have always said Brighton should be the first city in the UK to adopt the scheme. What a flagship it would be."

The first phase of the scheme would link Brighton marina with the Palace Pier but if it is successful Mr Courtney wants the monorail to extend further along the coast and up to the city's train stations.

He said people in Brighton and Hove could buy shares.

He said: "We don't need the money but it would give me great pleasure to offer people in the city the chance to buy a little piece of it."

Brighton and Hove City Council is working on its own rapid transport system for the seafront but has opted for a bus-based service.

Councillor Craig Turton said: "It's not an either or situation. There is no reason we can't have both buses and a monorail. We want to offer choice in how people get around the city in fast, comfortable and environmentally friendly transport."