Brighton station could get a facelift with a new ticket office, bar and toilets.

Train company Southern has applied for planning permission to tear down the old ticket office and replace it with a shop or wine bar. It also hopes to build new toilets and staff offices.

A spokesman for Southern said: "We would like to redevelop most of the station and move the ticket office to the other side. The gents' toilets will also be replaced, possibly with a wine bar or some kind of music venue.

"Brighton is one of the oldest Victorian stations and it could do with a bit of work."

Money made from the sale of land next to the station would be used to fund the refurbishment but the amount it would cost has not been disclosed.

The spokesman said the plans were part of Southern's overall rebranding. The company changed its name from South Central to Southern in May this year and furnished its stations with signs bearing the company's new name and logo.

The application follows plans submitted earlier this year to replace the station's dark and dingy toilets, once voted the worst in the country.

Touch screen ticket machines are also hoped to be in place by next summer.

The station is the busiest in the South East outside London and is used by more than seven million passengers a year.

Shelley Atlas, chairwoman of the Brighton Line Commuters group, welcomed the proposed improvements and said: "The station has needed some work done for a while.

"When refurbishment is done it gives a better feel to the place and makes people feel safer, especially in the evenings. People don't mind waiting for a train so much if the station is clean and tidy. From a tourist perspective it would also be much better."