The underground works will be disguised by vegetation

Campaigners against a proposed new sewage works have renewed their opposition.

Residents of Ovingdean, East Sussex, are opposed to possible plans by Southern Water to build a plant near their homes.

They renewed their objections to the proposals after visiting a new underground sewage works officially opened in Kent on Friday.

Southern Water built the �135m plant in an area of outstanding natural beauty at Broomfield Bank, in the Farthingloe Valley, west of Dover.

The plant, which will process up to 100m litres of waste water every day from 150,000 people living in the area, was designed to be as unobtrusive as possible.

'Not discreet'

But protesters from Ovingdean - which is among a number of sites near Brighton under consideration by Southern Water - said they were not impressed.

Campaigner Cathy Taylor said: "It's actually much worse than I thought it would be.

"I was prepared to be impressed by how discreet it was going to look and I don't think it is discreet - especially given that this is a smaller site than the one proposed in Brighton."

The new plant near Dover means waste water now passes through two processes - preventing the need for raw sewage to be pumped into the sea.

Protesters do not want countryside at Ovingdean to be spoiled

A similar plant is needed to do the same job in Brighton.

Southern Water, which must improve the area's water treatment to meet European standards on seawater quality, is considering eight sites for the plant, five of them on greenfield land.

Geoff Loader, of Southern Water, said: "In areas such as Ovingdean the proposal there is to build in a deep bowl so it is hidden largely from view.

"Yes, there do have to be things like vents, there do have to be areas which are open to the atmosphere.

"But a very large part of building a project such as this is to landscape it in - to disguise it as much as possible."

The other options include Shoreham Harbour, Peacehaven, Newhaven, Black Rock and the Upper and Lower Sheepcote Valleys.