News: the architectural principles behind the Prince of Wales' controversial Poundbury development (above) will be exported to Bahrain in a move that has angered human rights campaigners.

Under a £700,000 deal with the Bahraini government, the prince's architectural charity will advise on the construction of a 4000-home development in the south of the Gulf state, which has recently been criticised for its human rights record.

Campaigners said the deal would send a message that the British royal family approves of the regime in Bahrain, where pro-democracy activists claim the monarchy's security forces are responsible for the deaths of 87 people in the past two years.

The Prince's Foundation for Building Community, which oversaw the construction of Poundbury in Dorset, a new town devised by Charles and architect Leon Krier using traditional British building typologies, will offer technical and engineering expertise to the project, which could eventually be expanded across Bahrain.

Charles escorted Bahrain's crown prince around Poundbury in 2007 and last month hosted the country's housing minister at Clarence House in London. Representatives for the prince said his personal ties with the Bahraini royal family had not played a direct role in the negotiations for the deal.

The prince is well known for his views on architecture and has repeatedly clashed with architects and developers over projects such as the proposed Chelsea barracks redevelopment in central London.

Graham Smith, the chief executive of anti-monarchy campaigners Republic, told the Independent: "Prince Charles should be ashamed. By orchestrating this immoral deal he is giving legitimacy to one of the world’s most repressive regimes. The Bahraini people need solidarity and support – not their own Poundbury."

David Mepham, UK director of campaign group Human Rights Watch, said credible allegations of torture carried out by the Bahraini regime had been made recently. "The UK should be pressing the Bahrainis to investigate those abuses and hold those people to account," he told the Guardian.

Photograph of Poundbury by MarilynJane; photograph of Prince Charles by Mark William Penny/Shutterstock.com.