Council bosses have dismissed ex-US president Bill Clinton's support for one of Brighton and Hove's rivals for European Capital of Culture 2008.

Mr Clinton, who jetted in to the Labour conference in Blackpool, said he had been "bowled over" by Birmingham.

But organisers of Where Else, Brighton and Hove's campaign for the title, brushed off the former president's remarks.

City council leader Ken Bodfish said: "I think it was probably just an off-the-cuff comment by Mr Clinton. It is probably a bit of PR being put out by Birmingham.

"I do not put any real weight on it at all. The real assessment will be done in London and not in America."

Paul Hudson, spokesman for the where else campaign, said: "We are much more concerned about things happening on the ground, like our projects Try It For The First Time and Adornment, rather than getting a foreign politician to say one way or another.

"I am sure if we had wanted to, we could have got Nelson Mandela to praise us after he visited Brighton during the Labour Party Conference last year. I do not think it will make any difference.

"There is also the point that Mr Clinton has never been to Brighton so he cannot really compare the two."

Hove MP Ivor Caplin said Mr Clinton's comments would not have an impact on the final decision. The contenders would instead be judged by an independent 12-person advisory panel.

Mr Clinton said he grew to love Birmingham as an Oxford student, when he visited the city to play basketball and was impressed by how it had been transformed when he visited again for the G8 summit four years ago.

He said: "I was just bowled over when I was there. It is quite wonderful. You should be proud."

Brighton and Hove's other rivals are Belfast, Bristol, Canterbury and East Kent, Cardiff, Inverness and the Highlands, Liverpool, Newcastle/Gateshead, Norwich and Oxford.

A shortlist will be completed in the autumn and the UK nomination will be selected from this list by Tony Blair in December 2003.