Fears street will be used as 'free party' for Pride

Residents are worried about pedestrian safety in St James's Street, Brighton, after the official street party was moved to Marine Parade

Residents fear people will use a street in Brighton as a "free party" after the city council moved the official Pride party a few hundred metres away.

Brighton & Hove City Council held a meeting on Friday in Kemptown to discuss its decision to move the party from St James's Street to the A259 Marine Parade.

Residents are worried that thousands of people will still flock to the St James's Street area and are concerned about the road being open to traffic.

Councillor Birgit Miller said the authority was "very confident" it had a "robust plan" in place for the celebrations on 2 and 3 August.

Hundreds of thousands of people come to Brighton for the annual celebration

Resident Richard Healey said people were not reassured by the plans.

Mr Healey said: "We're concerned about traffic and the safety to pedestrians but also the safety for residents with the sheer numbers of people coming to St James's Street and surrounding areas to use as a free party."

Around 300,000 people came to the city for last year's Pride celebrations.

This year people will not be allowed to congregate outside along St James's Street, there won't be any outside bars or music, and the street will be managed by the city council, Sussex Police and Pride over the weekend.

There will also be security acting as a "soft barrier" to stop people going down roads between St James's Street and the official party, unless they are residents.

One resident said: "It will be worse just moving it one street away. I think it will be very chaotic."

Karen Byrne-Roberts, who lives near St James's Street, said she thought it was important for the event to go ahead but felt it had "outgrown this particular landscape".

The street party on Marine Parade - which has already sold 20,000 tickets - will include drag stages, bars managed by local venues and music zones.

Ms Miller told BBC Radio Sussex the council had used a national mass events organiser to review its plan for the Pride street party.

She added: "Where it's been challenged, changes have been made.

"We're very confident we have a really good plan in place. If anything the road might be safer than it would be on an ordinary Friday or Saturday evening."