The Government has pledged almost half a million pounds to help end homelessness in Brighton and Hove.

A total of £437,000 will be given to Brighton and Hove Council as part of the Government's bid to reduce the number of people sleeping rough by at least two thirds by 2002.

It comes on top of £1.8 million which was given to the authority in February last year to tackle the problem.

A £250,000 slice of the new money will be used for general projects while £40,000 will be spent tackling drug and alcohol problems and a further £147,000 on helping people who are homeless and mentally ill.

Last year's money was used by groups including Brighton Housing Trust, Emmaus and Hove YMCA, which are expected to receive part of the new windfall.

The announcement comes as new figures show the number of people sleeping rough in the towns fell by more than a third in the last year. The Government's Rough Sleepers Unit said a recent count showed there were now 26 homeless people compared to 43 the year before and 44 in 1998.

In England there are now 1,180 homeless people on the streets, a drop of 28 per cent on 1999. The worst areas are in London, including Westminster where 227 people were sleeping rough, followed by Oxford with 31 and then Brighton and Hove.

Louise Casey, head of the unit, said: "While these new figures indicate good progress in the right direction, the Government is determined to ensure that no one has to sleep out on the nation's streets in the 21st Century.

"We know the job of helping people who bed down on streets night after night is not easy. The solutions for rough sleepers addicted to drugs, alcohol or with mental health problems are not cheap or basic.

This is why the Government is announcing where it intends to spend significant amounts of money to help local authorities and the voluntary sector to deliver the target."