For more than 150 years there was a market in the centre of Brighton, although no trace of it remains today.

It started in 1774 in Bartholomews and expanded considerably after that but had to make way for Brighton Town Hall.

A replacement was built nearby, in Black Lion Street, and survived until 1900 when it was rebuilt as a rather striking red brick edifice with roofs made of glass and iron.

The major sections dealt with fruit and vegetables but another part was used exclusively for flowers and was called the Floral Hall. This rare pictorial of the interior dates from 1905.

It closed in 1938, when a fruit and vegetable market was built in Circus Street. Most of it was demolished and converted into a car park intended to be temporary while a new town hall building was planned.

In fact the car park remained for more than 40 years and one wall of the old Floral Hall survived until new civic offices were built in 1984.