The son of former ITN newsreader Carol Barnes expected bad news when he begged her to buy him a record shop.

But Carol surprised her son James by not only splashing out £12,000 on the lease but also volunteering to decorate the shop herself.

It was the most expensive present James had ever had.

Carol traded her designer suits for a pair of scruffy overalls as she transformed an antiques shop into a trendy record store called 52 Records.

However, the two months covered in paint was not the only brushing up she had to do.

Carol, 58, also had to educate herself in obscure American and Canadian hip-hop music.

She was happy to help out her 20-year-old son James Thomson in his bid to conquer the imported music market.

But she is unlikely to be spending much more money inside the shop to boost her own CD collection.

In fact, she was initially reluctant to get involved at all with the shop in Church Street in the North Laine area of Brighton.

Carol, who lives in Brighton, said: "When James asked me, I said no to start with. I thought he was kidding.

"But in the end, I lay in bed and thought: Isn't that how Richard Branson started, importing records from America?"

Revamping the empty shop became such a labour of love, Carol Barnes could have passed for Changing Rooms presenter Carol Smillie.

She said: "Most of the work is done now but we never realised how long it would take.

"First of all we thought we would open in three weeks but it's going to be more like two months.

"We've painted the walls, put in the carpets, fitted appropriate lighting, bought the stock and built the counter so we're pretty much there.

"We've been here working on the shop every day since we bought it."

James, who is studying philosophy at the University of Sussex, will run the shop with his friend Harry Flay.

Harry has contacts with several independent labels and unsigned Canadian artists and the pair believe they have found an untapped market.

James said Harry was putting on dance nights at the Pressure Point in Richmond Place, Brighton, and wanted to take it further.

"He was playing all this independent, underground hip-hop and we realised there was a real demand for it.

"We came up with the idea of the store about three or four years ago.

"There is no real term for a lot of the music. We will sell almost anything that is not commercial."

They also hope to use the shop to showcase local bands.

But James had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he added: "I'll keep my mum's collection of modern dance music well stocked up."

She said: "I can't see myself becoming a hip-hop expert. My music tastes are stuck in the Seventies. I'm happier listening to Queen."