A planning team criticised for having one of the worst track records in the country has seen its results improve by more than 50 per cent in two years.

Between 2001 and 2002 Brighton and Hove City Council managed to process only 31 per cent of applications within the target time of eight weeks.

But statistics released yesterday by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister showed 77 per cent of the council's 3,187 applications made the deadline in the last financial year - four per cent above the UK average.

In the first three months of this year, the number soared again to 84 per cent.

Councillors and planning officers put the improvement down to better training and a review of the service.

Others said it was because applications were being rushed through by officers rather than going before the committee.

Councillor Carol Theobald, Conservative spokesman for planning, said: "The number of applications delegated to planning officers has been increased. If anyone objects to an application it comes before the committee but the planning team want to change that so residents will have to put in five objections for it to get to the committee.

"They want 90 per cent of applications to go to officers. I think this is very undemocratic. We sometimes disagree with officers so it's important the committee gets a say.

"You can take delegation too far. Some applications are complicated and need time and a full consultation. There is still room for improvement but to rush things through via officers is not the answer."

Councillor Bob Carden, chairman of the planning committee, said: "We have employed one or two more people, which has helped but it's mainly down to a review of the planning service. There has been more training for staff and new measures such as delegating more applications to officers to deal with."

In the year ending March 2000, out of a total 2,477 decisions made, 58 per cent were handled within eight weeks.

This dropped to 54 per cent the following year, plummeting to the lowest point of 31 per cent between March 31, 2001, and March 31, 2002, when 2,351 decisions were made.

By the end of March 2003, the number had climbed to 55 per cent and to 77 per cent for the 12 months ending this March.

Coun Carden traced the planning department's poor record to the merger of Brighton and Hove in 2000.

He said: "There were mixed applications coming from all angles. We've also had a lot of controversial and complicated applications. When there are big ones, such as the Falmer stadium and the West Pier, we deal with them in separate meetings."

Other councils in Sussex were quicker at processing planning applications.

In Lewes, 83 per cent of the 1,420 applications were decided within eight weeks. In Hastings the figure was 84 per cent of 1,682 applications and in Eastbourne 82 per cent of 818.

Councils which failed to achieve the national average were Rother, with 66 per cent of 2,192 applications, and Wealden, with 59 per cent of 2,955 applications decided within the target times.