RESIDENTS are ready to protest until they are blue in the face over a great big yellow sign being put up outside their listed homes.

Homeowners in grade II listed 163-year-old St Catherine’s Terrace in Kingsway, Hove, are angry about the sign warning motorists to avoid the seafront road, which they say was put up without consultation.

The signs is one of three installed around the city advising drivers to seek alternative routes and warning of possible delays from roadworks at the A259/West Street junction.

The works are expected to continue for up to two years as the £10 million redevelopment of the Victorian Shelter Hall, which suffered an internal collapse in 2013, is carried out.

Council officers have told residents they have reduced the length of the message as much as possible to minimise the size of the sign, but the lettering has to be of sufficient size to be read easily by drivers.

Officials also said they were limited to where the sign could be put because of underground cables and pipes beneath the pavement and that the final location was chosen following “careful surveys and engineering decisions”.

Council staff have apologised for the inconvenience but said the authority’s priority was to manage the traffic and keep the city moving.

Resident Jan Ayre said: “The council bangs on about the glorious heritage of our city and then chooses to ignore the positioning of an eyesore sign positioned in front of an attractive terrace of heritage housing.

“We ask nothing from the council to maintain the buildings on their behalf and we are then treated in this disrespectful, high handed manner.”

Fellow resident Sean Lippett said: “I feel the sign is in a potentially dangerous place, diverting drivers’ attention from the crossings next to it.

“There are many far more sensible places for such a pointless sign that will be 99 per cent ignored by everyone in any case.”

Another resident Sam Harris said the sign was the latest object to clutter his road along with three pay and displays signs, a bike park, a two way traffic sign, two bottle banks, traffic lights and a red post box.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said: “Careful surveys and engineering decisions were taken to identify the best locations for the signs.

“At St Catherine’s Terrace, the sign is located where the footway has been widened providing good visibility for drivers.

“This signage does not need any consent or planning permission as it is a traffic sign as defined under s64(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and authorised by the Secretary of State.”