Things are looking up for sport in Brighton and Hove as the new complex at Dorothy Stringer School takes shape.

Sport and leisure have been two of the fastest-growing industries in the past decade, yet many believe Brighton and Hove has been lagging behind other towns and cities.

There is no doubt the sporting enthusiasm and home-grown talent is here in the city but there are few top-class facilities to nurture it.

There is a more than a ray of light in the shape of the foundations going up in the grounds of Dorothy Stringer, in Loder Road, Brighton.

A modern sports centre is beginning to take shape which will provide some of the facilities the city has been lacking for so long.

When finished, it will rival the Ashton complex in Lancashire, which is successfully forging links with Manchester United.

The Dorothy Stringer centre will be a sports academy which will work closely with Brighton and Hove Albion, Withdean 2000 Football Club, athletics, hockey and other sporting clubs across Sussex.

It will provide well-equipped indoor training facilities for all sports and clubs and individuals in Sussex, when not in use by the pupils of Dorothy Stringer School.

Among the multi-functional facilities will be badminton courts, a dance studio and sophisticated video equipment so coaches can train cameras on would-be sports stars, record their actions and then play them back, giving tips on how he or she could improve.

Brighton and Hove has no purpose-built football stadium, Olympic-size swimming pool or smaller stadia for ice skating, basketball or championship indoor tennis.

Things may change if the go-ahead is given for Albion's new stadium at Falmer when it is discussed by the council on June 12 but it looks as if the stadium saga will be a long, drawn-out process.

The city is getting by on a mish-mash of facilities. The successful Albion football team will next year be playing top teams such as Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in an athletics stadium where thousands of temporary seats have been erected on one of the most exposed sites in the city.

Indoor tennis is staged at the Brighton Centre on the same floor as the Labour Party conference. For an ice show, a small rink is erected in the middle of the centre's main hall and there is no suitably-sized rink for ice hockey tournaments.

Surprisingly, considering the fuss there is about most sports developments in the Brighton and Hove area, such as the proposed football stadium at Falmer and the much-needed revamp of the King Alfred sports complex, the new complex at Dorothy Stringer eased through all its planning stages like a knife through butter.

The complex is part of a £105 million revamp of four secondary schools in the city under a private public financial project with Jarvis Accommodation.

The Government has provided £27.2 million towards the cost of all four projects. The four-school project will also provide new drama and technology rooms at Varndean School, a maths library and multi-media suites at Patcham High and drama and dance centres at East Brighton College of Media Arts.

Jarvis will also be providing a 110-place purpose-built nursery on the Surrenden campus, which includes Varndean and Dorothy Stringer Schools. This will also be of help to those using the new sports facilities.

Andy Marchant will be the director of sport at the new complex.

The former Albion, Wimbledon and Southend professional footballer, now 51, is excited about being in charge of one of the best sports complexes in England.

Since giving up playing sport professionally, he has devoted himself to training others and has spent 23 years at Dorothy Stringer.

His successes include Steve Palmer, the current captain of Queen's Park Rangers and the only Cambridge graduate playing professional football at present; Ross Johnson, who played several games for the Albion before moving to Colchester; Jay Lovett, now with Brentford; and Sean Rowland, former goalkeeper for the Great Britain hockey team.

Mr Marchant said he was looking forward to his new role. He hopes to start moving into the sports complex in November.

He said: "My job is to oversee the development of sport at Dorothy Stringer and work closely with the sporting community.

"I am looking forward to working closer with Withdean 2000, who, despite not having a proper home because they have been ousted from their home by the Albion, are doing a terrific job in bringing on young players through their youth system.

"I am also keen on promoting girls' football, where we have had considerable success at Dorothy Stringer.

"It is not only football we will be concentrating on. Basketball, hockey and cricket clubs will all be able to use our facilities to bring their players on.

"I want to see Brighton and Hove become a beacon for sporting excellence. It is vital the two professional sporting clubs in the city, the Albion and Sussex County Cricket Club, receive the backing they require to help sport at the highest level to be played locally.

"We will not be rivals to health and fitness clubs in the city or other sporting facilities. This will be a sporting academy working with all the local clubs to enhance the enthusiasm for sport in the city."