A run-down gateway into Brighton is to receive a revamp.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds will be poured into Pool Valley coach station, Brighton, to improve the area.

And the council will force owners of semi-derelict buildings to renovate their properties.

In a survey of coach station users, almost 40 per cent of people said they felt slightly unsafe or unsafe in the area.

Those questioned also said the area was blighted by rough sleepers, drunks and drug dealers, adding to the impression of insecurity.

Overall, two thirds of people were unaware the coach station was called Pool Valley.

Details of the joint initiative between Brighton and Hove City Council and National Express will be discussed at an environment committee meeting on March 15.

If it is given approval, council officers will draw up more detailed plans, spending £30,000 designing the station.

The council has already set aside £440,000 for the project, although the overall costs are not yet known.

New street lighting will be installed, trees planted and tourist information boards put up.

The streets leading to Pool Valley will also be improved to mark out the area clearly as a coach station.

New seating will positioned to protect customers against the elements and provide the most attractive views.

Section 215 notices, which force landowners to keep the outside of buildings to a minimum standard, are also being considered to ensure the whole area is spruced up. And public art will be commissioned.

National Express will be responsible for providing a new ticket office with a waiting room and toilets.

Gill Mitchell, chairwoman of the environment committee, said: "I think people would like to see Pool Valley improved and made a generally more pleasant, friendly place to be.

"It's in a fantastic location and has great potential to be a welcoming, useful public space.

"People see the back of these buildings as their first impression of Brighton and it needs to be improved."

In November 2006, National Express submitted a planning application for a building at Pool Valley that would have contained a ticket office, waiting room, toilets and a staff room.

But the application was turned down and the coach company is expected to resubmit a revised proposal in the near future alongside the council's plans.