Developers planning the £100 million regeneration of the "gateway to Worthing" warned proposals for a swimming pool on the site are in jeopardy.

The Liberal Democrat opposition on the council has called in the plans for further scrutiny, which opponents fear could delay the scheme.

But spokesman for Hanson Capital Management, owners of Teville Gate, where the 25-metre swimming pool would be built, said: "We cannot just sit around waiting."

The warning came as a masterplan for the future of the town, including the redevelopment of the eyesore Grafton multi-storey car park on the seafront, is being drawn up. The Argus has obtained exclusive artists' impressions by rival companies of what may be built on the site.

In response to the Teville Gate warning, council Lib Dems leader Coun Bob Smytherman said: "We are calling for a new Aquarena on the existing seafront site. If the Aquarena site is lost to high-density housing it will be lost forever."

But the council's ruling Tory group said Worthing would be without public swimming facilities for three years if the Aquarena site was chosen for a new pool.

Coun Smytherman said: "That's a red herring. It doesn't take three years to build a swimming pool."

He believed swimmers would not mind using facilities in neighbouring towns if they knew a showpiece complex was being constructed on the seafront at Worthing.

Hanson said private companies were interested in putting a members-only leisure complex at Teville Gate which would lead to the public pool plans being dropped.

The developers hoped to submit a planning application for the pool, a 21-storey apartment complex, multi-screen cinema, bowling alley, casino and bingo facility, restaurants, shops and underground car park by the end of September. Work could start a year later and take two years.

The Hanson spokesman said there was bound to be opposition from some quarters to high-rise flats but he believed an attractive design would alleviate concerns.

The apartments would face north-south, directly aligned with Worthing Pier, and have a ship's bow feel to the south-facing elevation.

A trendy walkway lined with restaurants would link Worthing's main railway station with Chapel Road, which funnels people to the town centre and seafront.

To find out more about the plans go to www.theargus.co.uk/the_argus/business/BUSINESS1.html